Yes, he did have control of it. And because of that control, the play is dead when the ball touches. A player is either a receiver (in the process of catching the ball) or a runner (has shown possession of the ball). The rules are different for receivers and runners - a receiver has not yet shown possession of the ball, so if it touches the ground and comes loose, it's incomplete. Because a runner has shown possession of the ball already, when the ball hits, it's dead. in this case, where Bryant catches the ball, takes 2 steps, changes hands with the ball and THEN falls down, it seems more relevant to the runners situation. But JUST because the ball was thrown down the field, that changes everything? idk. and if there is a screen shot of the ball clearly touching the ground, could someone show me it?