He was a great player with great confidence and ego. Those things often go hand in hand. After football ends though, with no further avenue to get attention and pats on the back, cynicism and criticism start to set in. How many HOF players do we see running other players and coaches down? Too many to count.

That spotlight is so intoxicating, but when it goes away, some will do almost anything to get it back, including publicly biting the hands that fed them. Do you think that Sanders and Irvin and Young need to be broadcasting to pay their rents? No way. They do it mostly to stay in the limelight and preserve some semblance of the attention they used to get as players. It's also a bully pulpit, which they all use to great effect, mostly for self-aggrandizement, either directly or via putting down other players by whom they feel threatened.