As director of business development, Mr. Craig has scored an enviable reputation for securing lucrative contracts, marketing the company name, and giving promotional speeches. For his efforts, Tibco has rewarded him with a six-figure salary, several thousand shares of stock, and a new career far from the football fields and the pages of Sports Illustrated that he dominated in the '80s.

Not content, as he puts it, to sit on his ass all day playing golf, Mr. Craig is very much in demand, and not just from established IT companies. Sports-oriented startups see him as a strong teammate who can open doors, get CEOs on the phone, and ink deals. D1Athletes.com, a Berkeley, California, startup, recently hired Mr. Craig to sit on its advisory board. Mr. Craig also advises, and invests in, or is on the payroll of iCongo.com in Canada and GetFit.com.

The downside to all this is that fame is sometimes a bitch. Mr. Craig is approached on airplanes and takes at least five calls a week from people seeking face time. These incessant overtures can take an emotional toll and have instilled within Mr. Craig a honed bullshit detector.

"If I'm interested, I have a few questions I ask, like, 'what's the business plan, where's the money coming from, and who's on board?'" says Mr. Craig. "I've gotten used to it, but I don't allow just anybody to use me as a door opener."