Birden sees plenty of success after pro football career

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Jul 3, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (7 Reader comments)

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This did not exactly overwhelm scouts like Mel Kiper, Jr. But Birden was such a standout in track that he wrangled an invitation to the NFL Combine for college prospects.

Initially, this was a very depressing experience.

“I was terrified,” Birden admitted. “There I was with guys like Sterling Sharpe, Michael Irvin, Brian Blades, Ron Brown, Aaron Cox. All these super stars.”

But the combine called for skills in which Birden was richly blessed.

“I thought, ‘If you want to see how fast I can run and how far I can jump, you got it!’” Birden said.

There was another factor, too.

“In the NFL you are dealing with the very best players,” Birden said. “The strongest and the fastest. What sets players apart is intelligence. Their ability to learn the entire game.”

Starting out, Birden was not merely unsung, he was almost unheard of.

But after his glowing performance at the NFL Combine he was drafted in the eighth round by the Cleveland Browns, and he proceeded toward a productive career with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons, which peaked with a 52-catch, 721-yard performance in 1993.

Not only that but Birden’s teams won. Seven of the nine teams he played for earned playoff berths, although he admits, “The biggest disappointment of my career is that I didn’t play in a Super Bowl.”

Still, the little man who made good had one worry: How would he adjust when he had to leave the NFL.

“I knew so many guys who had a terrible time,” Birden said. “They just couldn’t give it up. I was afraid I would be just like them.”

Yet when the time came in 1997, Birden was more than ready to leave.

“When I retired, I was sick and tired of football,” he said. “It had reached the point where it was no fun anymore. It’s a cutthroat business and there’s no loyalty.”

Two key factors launched Birden into a successful post-football life. One was that he became a Jehovah’s Witness in 1998.

“That made it an easy transition,” Birden said. “I was able to focus on something much more important.”

Number two, he was able to devote much more time to his family — his wife Raina, who he met at the University of Oregon, sons LaJourdain, 17, and Dante, 15, and daughter Camille, 12. Within a year, the Birden family expects to become residents of Lake Oswego.

“All my kids are dying to go to Lakeridge,” Birden said.

These days, Birden happily hawks dark chocolate to the world (“Japan, Australia, Canada. We’re going everywhere!”) and has even recovered much of his love for football.

“I watch it a lot now,” Birden said. “Only I analyze every single play. Sometimes it drives people crazy.”

At age 43, Birden still deals with some aches and pains from his long NFL career. But as he has shown so often in the past, it is still a mistake to underestimate J.J. Birden.

“My kids and their friends call me the Old Man and get me out there for flag football,” he said. “I run rings around them every time.”

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