ESPN’s widespread layoffs turned out to be a sad affair for sports media as many prominent personalities departed their established shows on the network. Unfortunately, former NFL player and analyst Ryan Clark also found his name on the broadcasting giant’s list. Reportedly, Clark learned about his axing during a break on the NFL Live show, which left him highly emotional.

Though most would understand Clark getting emotional, professional boxer Tim Bradley thinks the 46-year-old showed a sign of weakness by crying during his live show.

“You gotta understand this industry is like that,” Bradley said in his social media video. “You don’t know that? How long you been in this industry? It’s like that. You here one minute, gone the next. Same s—t happened to Stephen A. He got let go, and now he back. And you know it had nothing to do with performance. You think it do? You telling yourself that? Bro, you good at what you do. Yeah, s—t, you one of the best up there for sure. It’s all about numbers. That’s all it’s about. It’s about numbers.

“Yeah, s—t, that two million dollars or something they say you making? That’s what it’s about. Yeah, budget cuts. All that damn crying, man. Come on, bro. Making it look weak like that. If that was my son, I would slap the sh-t out of my son. Ain’t nobody died up there. Ain’t nobody dead. They’re crying like that, man.”

Bradley’s words might appear harsh, but the professional boxer certainly makes a valid point. For a renowned name like Ryan Clark, there are undoubtedly different avenues waiting for him after ESPN fired him. So, as Bradley pointed out, he shouldn’t be too disheartened about getting cut from the network. However, the former NFL champ’s sadness is equally understandable because of his long journey with the digital platform.

Clark joined ESPN in 2015 right after retiring from a successful NFL career. Since then, he starred in several ESPN shows, most notably NFL Live, First Take, and Get Up. He even appeared alongside Daniel Cormier on ESPN’s DC & RC, which blended MMA and American football to create one of the network’s major crossover shows. So, after spending over a decade in broadcasting with the company, his sudden departure could definitely leave him emotional. ESPN’s ongoing changes certainly came down hard on Clark.

According to a memo by ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, the company is focusing heavily on integrating its business with NFL Media following parent company Disney’s multi-billion-dollar deal. For this, Pitaro revealed that the cuts were necessary.

However, Ryan Clark firmly believes the sports broadcasting giant made the decision without any real cause and simply camouflaged itself behind the broader layoffs, as he revealed on The Pivot podcast.

Following Clark’s departure from ESPN, Stephen A. Smith criticized the network’s decision. Interestingly, Smith himself parted ways with ESPN back in 2009 before making a comeback two years later. Because of that, he could definitely find some relatability with Clark’s situation. But, alongside the NFL analyst, ESPN also cut Karl Ravech, reporter Tom Pelissero, Andreas Hale, and dozens of other employees.

That said, with the Disney-backed company completely going through a major transformation, it will be interesting to see what its broadcasting panel eventually looks like, especially with several major sporting events on the horizon.