JJ Birden

JJ Birden

Keynote Speaker: Former NFL Pro Turned Motivational Keynote Speaker

JJ Birden Biography

Like a fabled long-shot story and underdog tale, JJ Birden was The Small Man in the Big Man’s Game of Football.

After earning a scholarship to the University of Oregon for track and field (plus being the #1 high school wide receiver in Oregon), JJ also earned a walk-on spot with the football team his sophomore year. His trials were only just beginning though, and he was faced with many naysayers, followed by a cycle of injuries, and unimpressive stats.

JJ’s hard work, grit, speed, and resiliency were enough to eventually earn him the invite to the NFL Combine, where he dominated. His performance earned him an NFL draft pick, and he was on his way, or so he thought. Another series of injuries and failed physicals culminated in one of the darkest moments in JJ’s early career; JJ was rejected by 4 NFL teams in 5 days.

He could have walked away from the game and given up hope in spite of what seemed like insurmountable odds, but JJ didn’t even flinch. Instead, he did what he’s always done when faced with adversity—he found a way to win.

Despite a height of only 5’10 and weighing in at 157 lbs (versus the typical 6’2 and 245 lbs of his peers) JJ would go on to play 9 seasons in the NFL, crushing the average player's career of less than 2 years. He is now an engaging and passionate keynote speaker, and a leading authority on helping individuals seize their opportunities in life. As a best-selling author, entrepreneur, speaker, husband and father he now shares lessons from his life that help audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and professions realize the most important thing about success—it is never given, but always earned.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on JJ Birden and other top speakers and celebrities.

JJ Birden Speaking Topics

FROM THE FIELD TO THE BOARDROOM: BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

UNLOCKING YOUR TEAM'S POTENTIAL

Many organizations struggle with teamwork, causing role confusion and difficulty balancing individual and collective success. This leads to demotivation and disconnection from the bigger picture. Without a clear team strategy and commitment, organizations face communication breakdowns, trust issues, conflicting work styles, and lack of collaboration, leading to overall failure. Effective teamwork is crucial for success and progress.

In this keynote, JJ Birden leverages his contrasting NFL experiences to provide actionable insights and delivers powerful lessons on building successful teams. He compares the 1993 Kansas City Chiefs, who nearly reached the Super Bowl, with the 1989 Dallas Cowboys, who struggled through a 1-15 season. Through these experiences, he illustrates essential strategies for creating winning teams in any environment.

JJ aims to empower organizations to achieve their goals and cultivate a high-performance culture by translating the principles that made his teams great. This keynote inspires leaders and teams to embrace change, foster growth, and create environments where everyone can thrive.

Key Takeaways:

  • Growth: Audiences will learn strategies for personal and professional development through change, mentorship, and effective leadership. They will gain insights on how mentorship can transform team dynamics, inspired by NFL legend Joe Montana's experiences.
  • Retention: Attendees will understand how to create a winning culture that ensures long-term success. They will discover the importance of commitment and loyalty in fostering team cohesion and sustained performance, drawing parallels between professional sports and the corporate world.
  • Teamwork: Participants will know how to employ methods to foster a supportive team environment where dynamics are optimized for success. They will learn the significance of sharing and celebrating team achievements to ensure everyone feels valued and motivated.

Winning as an Underdog

Being an underdog gives you a STEALTH opportunity to win

In today's fiercely competitive landscape, organizations often find themselves at a perceived disadvantage when pitted against industry giants with larger market shares, extensive budgets, and formidable resources. However, this perceived weakness can be transformed into a strategic advantage with the right guidance. Rather than limiting their growth potential, these organizations can harness their unique strengths to foster alignment, momentum, and ultimately, sustainable growth.

Drawing inspiration from his own journey as an underdog, JJ Birden, a former NFL player and successful business professional, shares invaluable insights in his compelling keynote, "Winning As an Underdog." Despite facing odds stacked against him—where the average NFL player towered over him by 43%—JJ mastered the "underdog mentality," leveraging his perceived shortcomings to fuel his success both on and off the field. Through over a decade of experience in the medical and fitness equipment industries, JJ continued to embody this mentality, defying expectations and achieving remarkable success.

In his captivating keynote, Winning As an Underdog, JJ empowers attendees to embrace their underdog status and capitalize on every opportunity. With a blend of undeniable truths, actionable strategies, and inspiring anecdotes, JJ guides participants through a collaborative experience, showcasing how underdogs can not only thrive but also revolutionize established business norms. Join JJ Birden as he reveals how underdogs are the true catalysts for innovation and change in the business world.

Attendees will walk away:

  • Recognizing the strategic benefits of embracing underdog status.
  • How to cultivate a mindset that thrives on challenges and adversity.
  • Implementing JJ's proven framework for narrowing the underdog disadvantage.
  • Maintaining unwavering determination and resilience on the journey from underdog to industry leader.

Seize Your Opportunities

Success is not going to be given to you--you have to go get it!

Businesses have always aimed to get more out of their people, but it is becoming increasingly hard to provide resources, instruction, and encouragement that actually motivate employees to show up and give their best. To truly succeed in today’s extremely competitive business world, organizations need employees who are genuinely motivated to give their best, improve each day, and do whatever it takes to win. Unfortunately, not everyone has this capacity; JJ Birden does, and he can help anyone develop it, too.

Seize Your Opportunities focuses on the individual and what one must do for success as part of a larger group—no matter the odds, and no matter how much hard work it requires.

As a former NFL wide receiver, JJ knows what it takes to reach the highest level of performance and have the capacity to maintain it. Many of the success principles he learned as a professional athlete have helped him thrive in the business world as an entrepreneur and professional speaker. In this presentation, JJ shares his winning principles and strategies and teaches audiences how to maximize and seize the opportunities in their lives.

Success is not going to be given to you. You have to achieve success; and once you have it, you can't stay at that same level. You have to continue to work to fight mediocrity and complacency. JJ will show you how.

Key Takeaways from Seize Your Opportunity:

  • Finding, defining, and defending your Why
  • How discipline and self-motivation lead to success
  • Achieving your breakthrough through adversity
  • Developing championship focus and resolve
  • How complacency can destroy momentum
  • Avoiding complacency by continuous self-improvement
  • The Joe Montana Effect - what JJ learned playing with one of the greatest athletes of all time

In Spite Of…

The key to success is seeing obstacles as opportunities.

Low productivity is a recurring issue for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Keeping employees motivated to give their best is a challenge even for the best leaders; however, it’s not always up to leaders to inspire their teams, and even if it was, it’s not always possible. Unbeknownst to supervisors, managers, directors, and other leaders, employees may be dealing with their own deficiencies which can prevent them from raising the bar themselves. They may feel they don’t have the skills, talent, or abilities to succeed, or they may be experiencing the lingering self-doubt that comes with failure. It’s called the “underdog mentality,” and it’s held many back from reaching their true potential. The difference between the victims and the victors in life, between the underdogs and alpha dogs, is not a lack of adversity but rather how they approach adversity. No one knows this better than JJ Birden. In this inspiring keynote presentation, JJ shares the winning principles and strategies that helped him achieve success in spite of unbelievable adversity, heartbreaking failure, and herculean obstacles. Audiences learn that no matter what they are dealing with, if they want to win badly enough, they too can succeed in spite of everything (and everyone) against them.

Key Takeaways from In Spite Of…:

  • Overcoming Failures, Adversity, Setbacks, Challenges, and Obstacles (F.A.S.C.O.)
  • Witness the growth formula from failure to success (The Triple A’s)
  • How to raise the bar of your performance to the highest level
  • Determination and self-discipline in the face of failure
  • Doing whatever it takes to turn a “no” into a “yes”
  • How to approach each day and every opportunity like an NFL Pro

Every Day is Game Day

To get the future you want, you must bring your best EVERY day.

The economy is changing fast. The jobs of the future mostly don’t exist yet, which means the people who are most likely to thrive are the ones who are prepared to improvise, adapt, overcome, and continually grow. Unfortunately, the youth of today may not have the resiliency skills to get the futures they want--but they can develop what it takes to get there. The key is developing a set of core life skills to manage school, work, and outside interests while being responsible, dependable, and accountable adults. Those are the skills that helped JJ Birden overcome astronomical odds to reach the NFL, and they are the same skills that can help the youth of today become the leaders and high-achievers of tomorrow. In this captivating and empowering keynote presentation for students and athletes, JJ helps his audience understand the importance of giving their best every day so that when the going gets tough and all eyes are on them, they will have the capacity to succeed and breakthrough to bigger and better things. In Every Day is Game Day, JJ shares actionable tips and strategies that help young people approach every day like an NFL Pro.

Key Takeaways from Every Day is Game Day:

  • Mastering your thoughts and overcoming the underdog mindset
  • Avoiding the entitlement trap
  • Benefits of creating the right “positive” social media trail
  • How you to react to Failures, Adversity, Setbacks, Challenges, and Obstacles (F.A.S.C.O.) can lead to either a breakthrough or a breakdown
  • Why having a mentor is the ultimate shortcut to anything you want in life
  • Even though you may be winning now, complacency can cause you to lose

JJ Birden Videos

JJ Birden Speaker Reel-Former NFL Pro, Motivational Keynote Speaker
JJ Birden: "JJ Birden Short Sizzle-Motivational Keynote Speaker ...
Virtual Motivational Keynote Speaker Sizzle Reel | JJ Birden ...

How do I book JJ Birden to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like JJ Birden for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for JJ Birden, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for JJ Birden or any other speaker of your choice.

How much does it cost to book JJ Birden for a speaking engagement?

Speaking fees for JJ Birden, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book JJ Birden are $10,000 - $20,000 for live events and $10,000 - $20,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire JJ Birden, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does JJ Birden speak about?

JJ Birden is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Sports, Athlete, Sports Motivation, Overcoming Adversity, Motivational, Leadership, Teamwork & Teambuilding, Inspirational and Football.

Where does JJ Birden travel from?

JJ Birden generally travels from Scottsdale, AZ, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

Who is the agent for JJ Birden?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like JJ Birden for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book JJ Birden for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host JJ Birden or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.


JJ Birden is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Sports, Athlete and Sports Motivation. The estimated speaking fee range to book JJ Birden for live events is $10,000 - $20,000, and for virtual events $10,000 - $20,000. JJ Birden generally travels from Scottsdale, AZ, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Rudy Ruettiger, Jim Morris and Shawn Harper. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling JJ Birden for an upcoming event.

Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 26/07/2024.

JJ Birden Speaking Topics

  • FROM THE FIELD TO THE BOARDROOM: BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

    UNLOCKING YOUR TEAM'S POTENTIAL

    Many organizations struggle with teamwork, causing role confusion and difficulty balancing individual and collective success. This leads to demotivation and disconnection from the bigger picture. Without a clear team strategy and commitment, organizations face communication breakdowns, trust issues, conflicting work styles, and lack of collaboration, leading to overall failure. Effective teamwork is crucial for success and progress.

    In this keynote, JJ Birden leverages his contrasting NFL experiences to provide actionable insights and delivers powerful lessons on building successful teams. He compares the 1993 Kansas City Chiefs, who nearly reached the Super Bowl, with the 1989 Dallas Cowboys, who struggled through a 1-15 season. Through these experiences, he illustrates essential strategies for creating winning teams in any environment.

    JJ aims to empower organizations to achieve their goals and cultivate a high-performance culture by translating the principles that made his teams great. This keynote inspires leaders and teams to embrace change, foster growth, and create environments where everyone can thrive.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Growth: Audiences will learn strategies for personal and professional development through change, mentorship, and effective leadership. They will gain insights on how mentorship can transform team dynamics, inspired by NFL legend Joe Montana's experiences.
    • Retention: Attendees will understand how to create a winning culture that ensures long-term success. They will discover the importance of commitment and loyalty in fostering team cohesion and sustained performance, drawing parallels between professional sports and the corporate world.
    • Teamwork: Participants will know how to employ methods to foster a supportive team environment where dynamics are optimized for success. They will learn the significance of sharing and celebrating team achievements to ensure everyone feels valued and motivated.

  • Winning as an Underdog

    Being an underdog gives you a STEALTH opportunity to win

    In today's fiercely competitive landscape, organizations often find themselves at a perceived disadvantage when pitted against industry giants with larger market shares, extensive budgets, and formidable resources. However, this perceived weakness can be transformed into a strategic advantage with the right guidance. Rather than limiting their growth potential, these organizations can harness their unique strengths to foster alignment, momentum, and ultimately, sustainable growth.

    Drawing inspiration from his own journey as an underdog, JJ Birden, a former NFL player and successful business professional, shares invaluable insights in his compelling keynote, "Winning As an Underdog." Despite facing odds stacked against him—where the average NFL player towered over him by 43%—JJ mastered the "underdog mentality," leveraging his perceived shortcomings to fuel his success both on and off the field. Through over a decade of experience in the medical and fitness equipment industries, JJ continued to embody this mentality, defying expectations and achieving remarkable success.

    In his captivating keynote, Winning As an Underdog, JJ empowers attendees to embrace their underdog status and capitalize on every opportunity. With a blend of undeniable truths, actionable strategies, and inspiring anecdotes, JJ guides participants through a collaborative experience, showcasing how underdogs can not only thrive but also revolutionize established business norms. Join JJ Birden as he reveals how underdogs are the true catalysts for innovation and change in the business world.

    Attendees will walk away:

    • Recognizing the strategic benefits of embracing underdog status.
    • How to cultivate a mindset that thrives on challenges and adversity.
    • Implementing JJ's proven framework for narrowing the underdog disadvantage.
    • Maintaining unwavering determination and resilience on the journey from underdog to industry leader.

  • Seize Your Opportunities

    Success is not going to be given to you--you have to go get it!

    Businesses have always aimed to get more out of their people, but it is becoming increasingly hard to provide resources, instruction, and encouragement that actually motivate employees to show up and give their best. To truly succeed in today’s extremely competitive business world, organizations need employees who are genuinely motivated to give their best, improve each day, and do whatever it takes to win. Unfortunately, not everyone has this capacity; JJ Birden does, and he can help anyone develop it, too.

    Seize Your Opportunities focuses on the individual and what one must do for success as part of a larger group—no matter the odds, and no matter how much hard work it requires.

    As a former NFL wide receiver, JJ knows what it takes to reach the highest level of performance and have the capacity to maintain it. Many of the success principles he learned as a professional athlete have helped him thrive in the business world as an entrepreneur and professional speaker. In this presentation, JJ shares his winning principles and strategies and teaches audiences how to maximize and seize the opportunities in their lives.

    Success is not going to be given to you. You have to achieve success; and once you have it, you can't stay at that same level. You have to continue to work to fight mediocrity and complacency. JJ will show you how.

    Key Takeaways from Seize Your Opportunity:

    • Finding, defining, and defending your Why
    • How discipline and self-motivation lead to success
    • Achieving your breakthrough through adversity
    • Developing championship focus and resolve
    • How complacency can destroy momentum
    • Avoiding complacency by continuous self-improvement
    • The Joe Montana Effect - what JJ learned playing with one of the greatest athletes of all time

  • In Spite Of…

    The key to success is seeing obstacles as opportunities.

    Low productivity is a recurring issue for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Keeping employees motivated to give their best is a challenge even for the best leaders; however, it’s not always up to leaders to inspire their teams, and even if it was, it’s not always possible. Unbeknownst to supervisors, managers, directors, and other leaders, employees may be dealing with their own deficiencies which can prevent them from raising the bar themselves. They may feel they don’t have the skills, talent, or abilities to succeed, or they may be experiencing the lingering self-doubt that comes with failure. It’s called the “underdog mentality,” and it’s held many back from reaching their true potential. The difference between the victims and the victors in life, between the underdogs and alpha dogs, is not a lack of adversity but rather how they approach adversity. No one knows this better than JJ Birden. In this inspiring keynote presentation, JJ shares the winning principles and strategies that helped him achieve success in spite of unbelievable adversity, heartbreaking failure, and herculean obstacles. Audiences learn that no matter what they are dealing with, if they want to win badly enough, they too can succeed in spite of everything (and everyone) against them.

    Key Takeaways from In Spite Of…:

    • Overcoming Failures, Adversity, Setbacks, Challenges, and Obstacles (F.A.S.C.O.)
    • Witness the growth formula from failure to success (The Triple A’s)
    • How to raise the bar of your performance to the highest level
    • Determination and self-discipline in the face of failure
    • Doing whatever it takes to turn a “no” into a “yes”
    • How to approach each day and every opportunity like an NFL Pro

  • Every Day is Game Day

    To get the future you want, you must bring your best EVERY day.

    The economy is changing fast. The jobs of the future mostly don’t exist yet, which means the people who are most likely to thrive are the ones who are prepared to improvise, adapt, overcome, and continually grow. Unfortunately, the youth of today may not have the resiliency skills to get the futures they want--but they can develop what it takes to get there. The key is developing a set of core life skills to manage school, work, and outside interests while being responsible, dependable, and accountable adults. Those are the skills that helped JJ Birden overcome astronomical odds to reach the NFL, and they are the same skills that can help the youth of today become the leaders and high-achievers of tomorrow. In this captivating and empowering keynote presentation for students and athletes, JJ helps his audience understand the importance of giving their best every day so that when the going gets tough and all eyes are on them, they will have the capacity to succeed and breakthrough to bigger and better things. In Every Day is Game Day, JJ shares actionable tips and strategies that help young people approach every day like an NFL Pro.

    Key Takeaways from Every Day is Game Day:

    • Mastering your thoughts and overcoming the underdog mindset
    • Avoiding the entitlement trap
    • Benefits of creating the right “positive” social media trail
    • How you to react to Failures, Adversity, Setbacks, Challenges, and Obstacles (F.A.S.C.O.) can lead to either a breakthrough or a breakdown
    • Why having a mentor is the ultimate shortcut to anything you want in life
    • Even though you may be winning now, complacency can cause you to lose

JJ Birden Videos

JJ Birden Speaker Reel-Former NFL Pro, Motivational Keynote Speaker
JJ Birden: "JJ Birden Short Sizzle-Motivational Keynote Speaker ...
Virtual Motivational Keynote Speaker Sizzle Reel | JJ Birden ...
JJ Birden Motivational Keynote Speaker Demo - YouTube
  • How do I book JJ Birden to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like JJ Birden for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for JJ Birden, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for JJ Birden or any other speaker of your choice.
  • How much does it cost to book JJ Birden for a speaking engagement?

    Speaking fees for JJ Birden, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book JJ Birden are $10,000 - $20,000 for live events and $10,000 - $20,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire JJ Birden, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does JJ Birden speak about?

    JJ Birden is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Sports, Athlete, Sports Motivation, Overcoming Adversity, Motivational, Leadership, Teamwork & Teambuilding, Inspirational and Football.
  • Where does JJ Birden travel from?

    JJ Birden generally travels from Scottsdale, AZ, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.
  • Who is the agent for JJ Birden?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like JJ Birden for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book JJ Birden for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host JJ Birden or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
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All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.