JJ Birden

This episode is brought to you by KPMG Risk Services. KPMG believes that when you've earned the trust of all your stakeholders, that's when your business has a solid platform to grow. That's the trusted imperative. KPMG Risk Services develop and put in place dynamic risk strategies designed to help your business earn that all important trust. Go to reit KPMG us to learn more. We are going to be with former NFL wide receiver J.J. burden. He's a motivational speaker. He wrote a book called When Opportunity Knocks. If you are somebody that needs to figure out how to motivate yourself, how to discipline yourself, how to stay committed to your goals, how to seek out positive mentorship, I'm telling you, this is a podcast you will not want to miss. JJ we was dropping bombs. He was pouring out his heart and his soul to you. J.J. tell me what else we're going to learn, Glenn.

We're going to learn how to basically help people understand. No matter what happened yesterday, last month, last year, it does not matter. I want you to take every day with passion, purpose and power and seize the opportunities waiting for you.

What is the roadmap to defeat self sabotage, negative thinking and learned helplessness in these unprecedented times, you must get connected, get growing, Get Certain and Get Attitude. The Get Attitude Podcast. And welcome to the Gap the Get Attitude Podcast. This is Glenn Bill, founder of the University of Attitude and your host of the Gap, the Get Attitude Podcast and man, do we have an awesome guest to share with you today. This guy, he was one of my draft picks in my fantasy football league team back in the 1980s. He is also a motivational speaker. He is an author of a best selling book called When Opportunity Knocks. Eight Ways to Take Advantage of Opportunity When It Knocks. We're just going to bring up a quick little video of this gentleman before we bring him on. Jason, let's show everybody who we're getting ready to talk to today.

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All right. And welcome JJ to the Get Attitude PODC. It is so good to have you with us today.

Hey, what's up Glenn? It's good to be here, man. Every time I see those highlights I still get hyped up.

You Know, I was going to say, you certainly cannot ever get tired of watching that 90 yard touchdown for sure.

No, not at all. I mean, that's what's cool about having access to that footage. Because when I need to get hyped up a little bit, I just watch my highlight tape now.

Let me know that. Was that Montana throwing you the touchdown?

That one was Steve deburg.

Okay, well, Steve Deburgh definitely a quality guy. Real quick, let's just stay with that. Tell me about Steve deberg. Was a legend, was around a long time. What was the one attitude lesson you might have learned from Steve deburg?

Steve, you know what? To relax and have fun. I mean, Steve was just one of those guys that was relaxed, cracking jokes all the time. But he was a journeyman. He came to work, he was a warrior. I can remember one of the years we played with him, he had broke his pinky and he had like this pin in his pinky and this cast, and he's playing in the game and throwing touchdowns and all we could look at was his fingers. Like, how is he still playing in this game? So he never gave up.

Now, let me ask you, did you ever catch a pass from Joe Montana? You were there, I believe, when he played, correct?

Oh, absolutely, yeah. The two years I got to play with Joe was a thrill. But the first game I caught a 52 yard post route touchdown was just a highlight and auspicious way to get started with Joe Montana.

And then tell me about what was his attitude and mentality and something that you could just relate to our folks.

He was the epitome of leadership. He led by example. He was a complete professional in everything that he did. His preparation, his execution. And the other thing too that I loved about Joe was that no matter what was happening in the game, he always felt we could win. And that kind of attitude was always contagious because you knew that when Joe was in the huddle, we had a chance to win.

Amen. Amen. That's cool. And then when you mentioned Steve debur was a little bit of a journeyman. I know that you did. I mean, not probably as much as him, but you had played for, if I remember, the Browns, you played for Kansas City, you played for Dallas and the Falcons. Yeah, yeah, the Falcons. Is that where you ended your career?

Yeah, my last two years was in Atlanta.

Okay, and so who was your quarterback then?

Jeff George and Bobby Avert.

So Jeff George and I played on the North All Star team in Indiana together.

Oh, really?

How crazy is that? So he was Your quarterback and mine for one game.

That's cool.

That is some crazy, crazy stuff. He could throw very, very well. Go ahead.

Amazing arm. Amazing arm. I never seen a quarterback who could just flick it like that, 70 yards.

Off his back foot, you know, I mean, straight up. I'm telling you, there's no question. When you think about those four different organizations, I mean, we're not going to trash anybody. Was there one organization that felt different, or was there, or did all four have some really cool attitudes or auras? I'd love you to give us your thought on the organizations. Either all four or just a couple that really stuck out that you say, you know what? When I think about that organization. Here's what I think about.

Yeah, that's a great question. And first, I would say that the Kansas City Chiefs organization, I think, was cream of the crop. They had a winning attitude, and it was contagious. It was evident throughout the entire organization. They knew they were going to win at some point, and they were putting all the pieces together. What's interesting, though, I was in Dallas in 1989, Jimmie Johnson's first year, and we were horrible. One in 15. And I'm thinking, this team is never gonna win anything. I'm out of here. But Jimmie Johnson got it figured it out, and they went on to three Super Bowls. So I think Jimmy Johnson knew what he was doing.

Yeah, for sure. And then I. I see that you got a beautiful ring on your finger. I'm wondering if that's from the NCAA champion Oregon Ducks or is that from something else?

That's a good one. It's interesting because people know me for football, but I was a track and field athlete at Oregon. That was my passion. And my first year, we won the national championship. I was on this amazing team. And, you know, it's interesting because as an ath, all my years in athletics, I never won a team championship except for that year. So I wear this ring proudly.

And were there any notable folks on that team with you? Possibly some Olympians or something like that?

Yeah, there was a few, but the one that stands out the most is Joaquin Cruz. He won the 800 and the 1500 in the Olympics, too, after he won it in the national meet for us.

Oh, my gosh. And so do you still get to see him as an Olympic champion?

Yeah, I mean, that's. You know, I was a freshman. I didn't realize how amazing that team was until later. But there were multiple Olympians on that team that I was a part of.

Yeah, that's Cool. And then you, I'm guessing you had to be a hundred guy.

No, no, I was a long jumper, high hurdler and then I ran the four by one. I was the first leg of the four by one relay.

Wow. That. And did you. Did what was your best event and did any of them win? Did the relay win the national title? I'm just curious.

Yeah, no, our relay was pretty good. Not great. I was. My best event was the long jump. I was Pac 10 champion. I qualified for the Olympic trials my senior year and so I was a 26 plus long jumper.

Wow.

When I got drafted, I tore up my ACL in Cleveland. So there went the track career.

Exactly. So you did, did you play at Oregon? You played at Oregon, didn't you or did you not?

Yeah, I walked on my second year and proved those guys I could actually make it. And when I did, they transferred my scholarship from track to football. And I did both sports, you know, while I was there.

Very, very rare to have a Division 12 sport athlete. Talk to me about, you know, playing football in high school. I know that track was your, you know, your passion, but how did it set with you when people said, he's too small. I'm guessing they said you were too small. Do you remember how that used to make you? Did you receive any D1 offers for football and what was that whole experience like?

Yeah, I definitely had a chip on my shoulder because my senior year in high school, Lakers high school, I was the number one wide receiver in the state. I had like 15 touchdowns. But they saw 5, 10, 133 pound wide receiver. No division one football program offered me, was D1, D2 or junior college. And I felt I was a Division 1 athlete and I knew I could get a track scholarship. So I just figured that when they were recruiting me track wise, I would ask each coach, what do you think about me trying football? And all the D1 colleges said no, except for Oregon. Oregon said, you come run for us. And if you can convince head coach Rich Brooks to get let you walk in the second year, you have our blessing.

I love it. So being a part of a national championship in Division 1 is special and it's hard to do. My guess is coach Rich Brooks had some mantras, had some attitude thoughts, had some coaching points. He had to. My guess is he made an impact on your life. Talk to me a little bit about what his message was, what impact it possibly had on you that maybe still is with you today.

Yeah, the biggest thing with Rich Brooks, because first I had to convince him I could play, you know, and he finally said, okay. And I remember Glenn, the first day going to training camp, and there was, like, 15 wide receivers, and I was like, number 14. And I kind of knew they didn't really think I could make it, but all I saw was opportunity. It was like, how fast can I move up the depth chart? But when I made it, Rich told me, says here I'm going to give you a tip because you totally surprised us. He said, you might appear to be small, but you play big in every way. He said, you keep doing that and people will ignore your size and be more focusing on what you can do in the game. And so I always had that mentality that, yeah, I was a, you know, little receiver by stats, but I was going to play big when the game started.

I love it. One of the greatest message, my friend Tony Robbins always says, you got to play big. And for our gappers out there, I don't know what you're facing right now. Right. I know that you're going, maybe I don't think of myself as being big. But you are hearing it first from the wonderful JJ Burden motivational speake, an author that, you know what the key to his success was to see things better than they are and to see things bigger than they are for your life. So Rich was your football coach. So I made a mistake. Tell me who your track coach was, because I bet he had some pretty interesting philosophies. He was the one that was the national championship coach. What did you learn from him?

Yeah, Coach Bill Dillinger and coach John Gillespie, they just preached team, team, team, team. And really emphasize the fact that don yourself, don't focus so much about being individuals, you know, but remember, you're a team, and the way you help the team is by doing your job. You know, you show up and do your job on the. On the long jump or the. Or the Rita, whatever it is. And if everybody does their job, eventually, in the end, we're going to win, because that's how we won the championship. We took points from here and there and there, and everybody did their job, and, you know, the rest was history.

That's cool. And when I think a team, I think it's so beautiful. And I want to talk a little bit about this. Your ultimate team is your wife and your eight. And I know you had three with her and then you adopted five. So tell me about the blessing of having that big of a family, and talk to me about the attitude of adoption. Right. There are people listening to us, I'm sure that are looking at it, that maybe have been adopted, that are in the middle of adoption. Talk to me about that whole experience about creating your ultimate team, your family.

Yeah, that was definitely a curve ball. That was something we weren't expecting because we had this perfect little family of five, our three children. But in 2007, I got a call from my nephew who was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he's like, uncle, please come check on us. There's craziness going on out here. So I flew out to Tulsa the next day. 24 hours later after that, Glenn, I'm in a courthouse standing for a judge. And judge is like, we're gonna take your five nieces and nephews and place them in five separate foster homes. You're the next of kin. So what do you want to do?

Wow.

Yeah. It was one of those, like, whoa. You know, I did what any smart husband would do. I'm like, judge, let me call my wife first.

Right.

But I tell you something, though. I took something I learned from the NFL, because in the NFL, you always had to deal with change. There were so many things happening. You had to have the ability to adapt on the fly and pivot or make an adjustment. So I use this three step process of process the information, make a decision, and then commit to the decision. So that's what we did. It's like, okay, what are we dealing with here? What are the options here? And we made a decision, and then we committed to it. And when we committed to it, we committed full speed, meaning that we're going to take all five of the children and merge them with our children and just become one big family. And that's what we did. It was a lot of work. It wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth it.

And what's your wife's name? And tell me what she's taught you about attitude.

Oh, man. My wife's name is Raina, which means queen, right? Which I'm reminded of all the time, you know? But my wife has been just a great balance, you know, because we've been together for years. I met her in college. When I first met her, she didn't even know I played football. She was like, you don't play football. You're too small. And I was like, come to the game Sunday, Saturday, you're gonna see me. But I just think she's been my best coach, you know, she's my most honest critic, you know, because when I given a presentation, I'm doing something, I want an honest feedback. Because feedback is the breakfast of champions. Right?

Amen.

That's how we get better.

Right.

And that's how she helps me because she tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.

So, yeah, my wife does the same thing. When I speak, she sits in back, she's got a notebook, and she's like, not funny. I don't know what you're talking about. And so we enjoy that. So does she come with you on your keynotes and stuff then?

Yeah, she does. She comes to pretty much all of them now. But yeah, just like your wife, she sits in the back and, you know, because we're trying to become. Trying to perfect our craft.

Yes.

And we don't want to get complacent. We're trying to get better and better and better. We know this is a process. So it's always nice to have her there because when you think you're bringing your A game, she'll see a couple of things you need to work on, you know.

Amen. So now, so let's talk about the three things that you learned in the NFL, which I thought was great, but you turned those into eight things about opportunity. So let's just touch a little bit about the book. Why did you write the book? What's the point of the book? And maybe we can hit on a couple of your favorite 8 points and learn what is in this book. And hopefully you guys can all hit Amazon. We will put his link in our chat. When you're listening to this and we got it pulled up right now, you can go to jjburden.com if you're interested in hiring a keynote speaker. I've seen JJ his videos. I've seen him on stage. I'm sure you can get a feel for how good he is. If you're. If you're a business owner right now, give JJ a ring. But most importantly, take a look at this book and jj, tell us about. Tell us about this great book, When Opportunity Knocks.

Yeah, I always had a goal of being an author. I just thought it was cool to write your own book and I thought I would write some little. Here's what it's like to play in the NFL. Everybody's done that. But as I continue to understand and appreciate the journey I was on and what I accomplished, and I know a lot of people struggle with achieving their goals, so I wrote this book. When Opportunity Knocks. Eight year fireways is take advantage to really show. Here's a blueprint of achieving that goal, that dream, whatever you want. And so Being I walked the walk, I've walked that road. I just came up with some points that helped me. And the goal is obviously to encourage others to use these action steps as well.

That's cool. So let's talk about. Well, we got them right here. Motivate yourself to change and set goals for your life. What's the message there for our people?

I guess the main thing is that first you have to understand it's you versus you every day. It's not you versus your neighbor, your friend, your competence, you versus you. And so you have to have that desire first to want to change, because no goal can be accomplished if you don't make the decision. And you just make the decision first. And that all, as you know, has to do with mindset. How you think, how you think, what you think truly does matter. So I always like to start there because, you know, I mean, one small idea, one small thought can take you up, down. There is no in between. So the encouragement is like, let's make the decision. Let's get your mindset right first as you begin this new journey.

Sure. And certainly thoughts are things, and for those of you listening, you may have a thought in your brain, you may have an emotion tied to that thought in your heart, and then it takes some guts to make that decision and take that massive action. When you think about your life and maybe you've already hit on it, what's the one time where you said, damn, I need to take action, and then you did it. And how did you leverage yourself to do that?

Yeah, I think it was my third year in the NFL because I kind of bounced around the first two years because eventually Cleveland cut me and eventually the Cowboys didn't sign me back. So that third year was that third critical, pivotal year that if you don't make it by your third year, you get labeled, you're not going to get any more shots. And so I go into Kansas City, tip top shape, best condition of my life, running super fast, had this great camp, and then they cut me. And that was one of those moments where you're at that crossroad and you're like, okay, jj, you know, either you need to come up with a plan B or you got to step up your game. And that was kind of my breakthrough moment because, Glenn, I made a decision right then that I was going to do whatever I could to take my career to the next level, kind of when my career really took off. But it started with me making a decision and obviously put in the work, but it was that breakthrough moment that changed my career after that, and it was because my back was against the wall. You know, we just got married. My wife was three months pregnant. We had $250 in our bank account. Knowing the moments like that, you either gotta rise to the occasion or go figure out something else, right?

And without those moments, maybe things never change. So, you know, if you're listening to this and you have been cut by your employer, if you've been cut by your wife in a marriage or your husband, I want you to think about what J.J. just said. I, you know, college stars, we got big egos, and very rarely do we get turned down. And so when you're used to win after win after personal win, then people say you are not good enough. Who in your life, gappers, is telling you you're not good enough? And here's my point. I want you to listen to what this man is saying because he's been through it, he lived it. And I think that's a great story. Number two, discipline yourself physically and mentally to take action when opportunity knocks. You've touched on it, but is there anything you want to say about mental and physical preparation to our gappers today that will help them increase what they're trying to do?

Yeah, I am. If you were to ask me what's that success tip, that word that anyone who's trying to achieve something needs, that quality is discipline. I mean, if the doorway here leads to your opportunity, discipline is the master key. And here's how I describe it. It's the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it while no one is watching. I mean, think about that definition. Business, sports, personal goals, whatever. There are things that we have to do, and we have to have the ability to motivate ourself to do them. You know, if we can't self coach ourself, we're eliminating a chance for success. And so as a pro athlete, it was automatic. I didn't need someone reminding me to study my plays and catch balls and, you know, watch film. No, that's what you do automatically, to be the best. And so it's a quality that you don't have to be a professional athlete to be able to demonstrate that we all have the ability to be disciplined.

I love it. I love it. And so gappers, if you're sitting there, you know as well as me and probably as well as J.J. still, there are things that we're not doing. There are disciplines that we are not practicing that are. We are not embracing that we need to do. I hope you make a commitment to whatever discipline that is. If you're listening today, seek out positive mentorships and learn success from others. That's attitude booster number five for us. Have a mentor and copy them. The truest, quickest way to success and to launch any success in your life is to find somebody who's doing it already. So let's talk about maybe who was your mentor and what else you'd like to share about that point.

Yeah, that's another one of the successes. I'm a big fan of having a mentor, a coach or a teacher, someone like you said, who's already walked the road you're traveling on. And throughout my life, Glenn, I've always had different mentors at different stages of my life, whether it was football related, academics, or business wise. And I just feel that there's an advantage when you can pick the brain of someone who's already achieved success, who's already gone through that road, and they can definitely help you cut down on the inevitable learning curve. And so one of the things I tell people is that you look at all the best athletes in the world who ever played the game. What do they all have in common? Coaches, mentors, and teachers. So don't ever think you're too cool, too smart, too successful, not successful enough to have a mentor that you can go to. But the other thing I would say is this, besides having a mentor, I think one of your best mentors can be the lessons and experiences we deal with, the failures, the adversities. I think there's so many great opportunities there to learn as. So yeah, have a mentor, but also be able to embrace the mentoring moments that are available through our own personal experiences.

Yeah, that is a point that not many make. I don't think I've ever heard anybody make that point. But so true about our experiences. Was there a mentor besides your wife in your life that like, who gave you your attitude? I also want to know, how do you define attitude? So define attitude. Then I want to know who was your first attitude mentor or coach?

Oh, attitude to me is just your whole mindset, your whole thought process, your beliefs, your just how you view anything in life, you know, because our attitude can kind of change, you know, but it's all having to do the situation and how you think. And the first mentor who really kind of launched me was my Uncle Cool. I called him Mr. Uncle Sonny. He was a really good athlete growing up, but he didn't, let's just say he got distracted. So he was Always my biggest fan. And I'll tell you the turning point for me from a confidence, belief standpoint, and really an attitude standpoint. My senior in high school, I had this game. I had four touchdowns. Just had a great game. My uncle goes, you're gonna play in the NFL someday. That was the first time I heard my name in the NFL in the same sentence. I was like, no, uncle, I'm not. He goes, no, you are. I go, no, I'm not. I believe in you so much that I want you to promise me your first NFL touchdown. And I said, you're crazy. He goes, just say, okay, whatever. You can have my first NFL touchdown. Fast forward to 1990. We're playing against Seattle. My first game, I scored my first touchdown. My uncle's there. I leave that locker room and I see him down here, about 30 yards. He's like this, standing all proud. But here's the teaching point. I go, uncle, how did you know? He goes, nephew, I believed in you, but you didn't believe in yourself. So I had to pour enough belief into you until you got your own belief that you could ride off into the sunset. And I never forgot that because I had to borrow his belief until I got my own. And I would say he was the first biggest influencer that really was helping establish the foundation, mentally that I needed to take myself to the next level.

Yeah, that's such a beautiful story. I'm wondering, and my guess is you've mentored not only your children and others. Is there. Is there a player perhaps that maybe reached out to you? Have. Have you poured that confidence into somebody that's manifested in your life so far? Are they still in progress or has it not happened yet?

Yeah, I've done it. I've done it to so many, because so many veterans help me. Cleveland, Dallas, every team there was a veteran wide receiver I would gravitate to, and I would just pick their brain. And the ones that I worked with, they were so generous. So I said, when I'm in that position. When I got to Atlanta, I was the veteran. So I helped all the young wide receivers. And now when I see a lot of these guys in kc, In Atlanta, they're telling me about how much I impacted them and how, you know, generous I was with my knowledge and experience. And I didn't think much about it, but I guess I did make an impact. But even to this day, I'm constantly being contacted by different people. I have a very busy schedule, but I'm always willing to offer some kind of tips and advice to ones who are looking for it.

And so the whiteouts that you went to, I'd love to know just a couple of them, if you could. And then the whiteouts who you said you touched and said, you got it in you, man. You got it. I know you can do it. Give me some names. I'm just curious.

So in Cleveland, it was Webster Slaughter, Brian Brennan and Reggie Langhorne. They were all the three top veteran wide receivers. And they just took me under their wings. Kansas City, it was Stephon Page and Emil Harry, especially Stephon Page. He was great. He was such a great mentor. And then when he left and I became the veteran, and then guys like Lake Dawson who came in from Notre Dame, and Chris Penn, who came from. I think he went to Penn State. But I just, I gave these guys everything I had. And then. And they were two of the guys who over the last couple years have reached out to me and personally thanked me for just, you know, helping them back in the day when they were rookies.

Yeah, that's so cool. And I'm, I'm sure you were overjoyed with the Kansas City Super Bowl. Tyreek Hill reminds me a lot of you. And I want to know, could you beat tyreek.

In a 40 even on a. Even on my best day of running a four three, three, I could not beat Tyreek. Tyreek is. He's next level. I mean, he's fast. He's. I could not beat him.

Okay, okay.

Cause he's run four twos, and I've never run a four two. I was a little four three guy.

That dude is incredible. Fun to watch, Fun to watch. Do you get back. Do you get to go back and watch some games in Kansas City?

Yeah, I try to go back once a year, every other year for the Chiefs alumni event. They do a really good job of, you know, welcoming back the alumni. And obviously last year we didn't get to. So hopefully, hopefully this year, I love it.

Now, one of the final points I want to hit is silence. The critics ignore the doubters. And as in our, as in our opening, we talk about self sabotage. So talk to me a little bit about those talking points and what our gappers need to be thinking about as you talk about these three.

Yeah, yeah. I definitely, you know, I've had my share of doubters, dream stealers, people who didn't believe in me along the way. And one thing I learned early on was this, that not everyone's going to understand your journey. Not everyone's going to understand the choices you make. And you know what? That's okay. The key is you have to understand your journey and believe it and you have to commit to it. So that's kind of where it starts. Because like you said, self doubt, negative thinking, excuses, fear, self limiting beliefs easily can creep up in our mind and take us out of the game. So you have to mentally take charge right away. And one of the things I say, Glenn, is say adopt a positive mindset. Because when you got a positive mindset, you wake up every day with the right attitude, you're ready to go, you don't care what other people think. And people who have a positive mindset separates the best from the rest.

And do you do anything to activate your positive mindset? And do you have a routine in the morning? And if so, what is it that sets the tone for you?

Yeah, I totally have a routine. And it really starts the night before because I always look at my schedule and I plan it out. I love structure. I love structure as the NFL player and I've tried to maintain that. And I have the attitude that I'm going to wake up and hit the ground running. You know, I want to control the day instead of the day controlling me. So once I've looked at my schedule, I got to get that workout in. There's just something about getting that workout in, getting the, you know, the endorphins pumping, you got that energy and it helps you deal with stress and really attack the day. That's like the first thing I love to do in the morning and then it's just balls to the wall the rest of the day.

I love it. I love it. Now you're wearing a shirt called the Truss with a football on it. I'm wondering, is this, is this. I love the logo. Is this something that. Is what you do? And tell us a little bit about that.

Actually, this is for the former NFL players. So the NFL PA form the division called the Trust.

Okay.

And the Trust main job is to provide services or just needs for former players.

Right.

And they do really good job. There's a lot of different things that are available and I use the ones that I need because there's guys that can go back to school and do other things. But I just love the fact that we, we finally have an organization that's taking care of the former players because it hasn't been like that for a while.

Right. And then as a speaker, do you, are you in their orientation program in the NFL or are you actively involved, speaking, teaching, mentoring, or leading any of These folks actually.

No, I know they have a program, and last year I actually tried to get to it, but I didn't. And to be honest, I didn't want to go as a participant. I wanted to go as a speaker, as a trainer, as a presenter. Because I've been doing this for so long, I felt that I really had something to offer the up and coming players. So we'll see how that goes. But the beauty of what I do and as you know, is I don't have to rely on this to be able to create the opportunities that I have in speaking in the corporate industry. And that's what I really love to do.

That's good. That's good. Well, I'm going to plan to help you. We are going to take a quick little break to pay for our podcast and get our sponsors. We will be back with author and keynote speaker JJ Burden in just a second. And welcome back to the Gap, the Get Attitude Podcast. We are here with motivational speaker and authority and former NFL player JJ Burden. JJ is dropping bombs on us. Jj, thanks for everything. We are now going to enter in phase two, the second half of the podcast with knowledge through the decades. You ready to go, jj?

Let's make it happen.

All right, so knowledge through the decades. We like to walk people through their life to understand the attitude lessons. And what I want to know is. And there's no wrong answer. So just free form and go. What do you believe the attitude lesson is of childbirth, of starting at zero. You have three by natural. I'm sure you may or may not remember your childbirth, but what do you think the attitude lesson of a newborn baby is?

Oh, the attitude lesson that you control your future. You know, no matter what family you've been born into, what the circumstances are around you, you have the ability to control your future. So it's even like if it was a weird, crazy situation, you can break the cycle. And that was kind of my mentality as a very young age that, okay, this is nice. Living in the hood and struggling. No, no, I want something different. I'm changing my circumstances.

I like it. So when we get to age 10, maybe talk to us about the hood. What hood did you grow up in? Do you remember being 10? That puts you third, fourth grade? I can imagine being a little guy, probably some getting picked on and some bullying. Talk to me about age 10. What was your attitude lesson? What did you take from that?

Oh, I had a major chip on my shoulder. I had little man's complex. I was the smallest guy and I was always fighting. I was getting in fights. I was in trouble all the time. But I had this tenacity, this internal drive that no matter whatever I was doing, they could be taking a test, they could be having races at recess. I would always give my best. I didn't have to win. I just always wanted to give my best. So you could just feel that this 10 year old had a little fire, a little spark inside of him that you could kind of tell that he was probably going to go on and do something special.

That's cool. And then when you talked about, did you grow up public schools, was it primarily a black neighborhood? Was it mixed? Talk to me a little bit about that structure.

Yeah, great question. I'm going to surprise you here. So I was raised in Northeast Portland, predominantly African American community. We struggled really, growing up. But in sixth grade, my mom found out about a busing program where they were busing African Americans to this rich suburban school in Lake Oswego, where it was like, wow, the wealthy. In sixth grade, I was like, I don't want to go there. I don't want to go there. And the very first day I got there was on a Friday. They were taking a spelling test. Mr. Barker, the teacher, said, you don't have to take the test. And I was like, I got pretty good grades in the hood. I'm taking the test. So they had 15 words I made. I got like eight out of 15. And I was feeling pretty good about it. And then I saw all the other children had like either 100% or they missed one. That moment. I said, I'm going to catch these kids academically. So that was a spark that really drove me to do better as a student. That really helped me. And that was one of the best things my mom could have done because I would have not challenged myself if I had stayed in the school system I was in.

And so you ended up going to this, is that correct?

Yeah, I went to Lake oswego schools from 6th grade to 12th grade.

Wow.

And here's what's interesting. I didn't do any sports until 10th grade because of the buses. If I play sports, there was no way of getting home or I'd have to walk an hour to the TriMet bus and take it downtown. And I'd get home at 8, 8:30. So up until 10th grade, it wasn't important to me enough to do it.

That's amazing. Yeah. And I was also. We're very similar in age, and I grew up through busing. And the black kids came into our school, which was cool, and I was actually a minority in our school. And I've always been committed to African American causes. And if you guys pull up our 846 interview stories of black America, we did that that the week George Floyd was murdered. Just give me your thought. You know, we don't need to get political. I want to hear from you because I think. I think to tell the black story is important, and it's something I've dedicated my podcast to. Talk to me about your feelings on where we are, where we've been, and what's the hope for the future. What I've always asked on that, what do white people need to know or what do they need to ask to bridge the gap between the races?

I think they just need to be honest with themselves and recognize there is a problem. Even someone like me. I like to say I'm one of the good guys. I've always done everything I'm supposed to do. Kind and nice to everyone. I've tried to set an example, but even I dealt with a lot of things like that growing up, and I've continued to. So I think it's just first accepting the fact that there really is a problem, because if they don't accept that, there's never going to be a change, because some people are going to be in denial. But there is. There is an issue that needs to be corrected.

What was your first experience of racism when you said, damn, I can't believe that shit just happened to me?

It probably was. I was in high school playing football. It was two games. One game I was playing against school called Clackamas High School. I was ballin'. I had scored a touchdown and then two touchdowns. And the guys told me that they were gonna kill me if I scored another touchdown during the game.

Oh, my God.

Scored another touchdown. Then they called me the N word. I scored another touchdown, and I just went like this. And at that point, they couldn't do anything. But I remember how the whole team had to protect me walking to the bus because these kids were going to come after me after the game. The other example is when we made it to the playoffs my junior year, so I wasn't a star player. Then we went to this one school that they just decided that I could not travel. It was just going to potentially too many problems, and they didn't want to put me in a bad situation, so I couldn't even go to the game because of that. So, yeah, I experienced that and a lot of others, but those are the ones that really stood out because a lot of the kids did not know I was dealing with that because I just kind of kept it to myself and just tried to keep moving forward.

And I mean, that was the 1980s and that was happening. That's what's just crazy. So thank you for that. I know that that's not necessarily an easy question, but I believe it's very important that more of these stories get put out so we can help people say, yeah, there's a problem. Let's go to 20 years old. You're in Oregon, you're balling, you probably look good, you got gear, and things are probably fun. Talk to me about the attitude lesson at age 20.

Age 20, I was still. Still trying to figure it out because by this time, I'm doing both sports. And as you already mentioned earlier, to be a college athlete has its challenges. To be a college athlete and do two sports, you talk about learning curve, just understanding how to balance your time and create a schedule. Because I had no time, no free time. It was like football season. Practice, academics, go to the library, and when football's over, you went right in the track. So that was that first full year of doing both. So I was trying to figure out how to balance them both, and it took another year to get that, you know, figure that out. Because the key for me was I wanted to graduate because no one in my family had graduated. So that was always a priority. I'm going to graduate. So it was just learning how to balance all three.

That's cool. And it certainly seems like that goal of graduating propelled you to some great things. What was your major? I'm just curious.

I was a sports marketing major.

Nice.

I wanted to work in the PR and marketing departments of sports organizations. That was my thing, is if I couldn't play sports, I wanted to be behind the scenes. And what was cool is when I got drafted by Cleveland, I had to finish my internship. So I got to do my internship with the Cleveland Browns pr, marketing, and sales departments for me to complete my degree. So that was cool experience.

That's very. That. That is neat. I love that story. Now let's go to 30. My guess is the career's over or close to over. What was the attitude lesson? You remember your 30th birthday? Where were you and what was going on? What'd you learn?

Yeah, 30th was that first year with Atlanta. So this is when I left Kansas City and I first time I got a decent sized contract and I knew how important this contract was because it was the most I had ever made and was like, how can we invest it? How can we save it? And it was really going into Atlanta to prove to everyone I could be a big time wide receiver because I went from the Chiefs offense to the Atlanta offense where they had the run and shoot. To my disappointment, I had two of the worst years because I kept pulling my hamstring because we ran so much anyway. But that was that year 30. And I just. I really thought I was going to be Pro bowl player, but it didn't work out. Those last two years in Atlanta.

Yeah. And so that is. Love adversity or deal with adversity. What was the attitude lesson that pushed you through? What were you saying to yourself? What was your mantra? Because look it, people are pulling hamstrings in their lives and their relationships. What did you keep telling yourself to make yourself feel better, to continue on?

One thing I said to myself was, I'm going to learn from this experience. And what I learned was to not make emotional business decisions because I was being sought out by the Falcons and the Bears. I wanted to live in Atlanta so bad. I wanted to be in this cool offense. But the smart choice was the Bears because I was used to that type of offense. I made an emotional decision that I paid the price for. So when I retired as a JJ in the business world, don't make emotional decisions. Make the smart decision because it'll benefit you later. And. And that's one of the lessons that I'll probably share in book number two, because I should have signed with the Bears and had I done that, I probably would have had a much longer and better career.

You would have probably pulled the hamstrings. Hey, did you play with Deion Sanders or do you know him?

I played against him.

Did you. Did you torch him?

No. He was the. Glenn, he was by far the best corner I ever went against athletically. He was just on another level. And I can remember studying film, as much film as I could to spot a weakness in his game. And you identify the weakness, but when you got in the game, you thought you had Deon beat. He would bait the quarterbacks and he had this amazing closing speed that I just. He was the best.

Yeah, there's no. And so obviously I'm just going to follow up real quick. Who is the biggest freak, the most unreal. And I know it could have been Deion, but like, when you saw them in person or whatever, you went, oh, my God, this is amazing. Like, who. Who was that person?

It was Eddie George, running back Eddie George. I mean, when I looked at him in the huddle, he was like, 6, 3, 6, 4, 2, 7. I'm like, he's a running back.

Oh my God.

I mean, he was just huge. I couldn't believe how big he was.

Were your linebacker's like, damn, I don't want to have to tackle him?

Yep, pretty much like that.

I can only imagine. Okay, so now you're 40, right? Now you're 40. I'm guessing that's probably when this book started manifesting. When you're speaking career. Do you remember 40 and what's your attitude lesson at 40?

Yeah, I do remember 40, because when I first retired, I got involved in a couple businesses and I ran a couple of those companies and I didn't really, I wasn't passionate about it, you know, and I just, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. And I wanted to figure out a way that I could utilize my experiences, all the lessons I learned in this incredible world. I was part of football, NFL, and how could I teach that to other people? Those lessons. And I got involved with direct sales first and I was doing that and they kept putting me on the stage and I'm speaking in front of thousands and thousands of people. And I thought, okay, I can speak now. Let's create our own content and tailor it to really impact people's lives. And that was right around those years when I was thinking about, okay, now how do I do this?

This, I love it. Now, I don't know, I'm, I'm guessing you got some speakers bureau's, but I think you, you got a gift. I think you got a message. I'd love you to be a part of my speakers bureau. I'll follow up with you on that. We'll maybe see if you'd be interested in coming in there if you don't have an exclusive with anybody else. So let's talk about 50. You're, you're, I think 55, 56, correct?

55, yep.

All right, so tell me the attitude lesson of 50. You remember your 50th birthday, what was going on, and what have these past six years been teaching you?

This past six years has really just taught me to refine my game, to tighten up my message, to really solidify my brand. But I think for me, what's really helped me is over these last couple years, I heard a speaker coach say this once. He said, jj, you gotta make sure as a speaker, you know what makes you the first, the Best and the only, right? And as a speaker, I started doing some research the last five years, and what I learned was that because there's a lot of speakers out there, there's a lot of athletic speakers, a lot of former NFL players. But, you know, Glenn, there is no NFL football player in the last 30 years who played longer than me that weighed under 160.

Love it.

So I have started really using that and the underdog and dealing with the odds and knowing what it's like to have, you know, deal with what I call fast skills failures, adversities, setbacks, and challenges. So I've really tried to help companies understand that if you want a message about overcoming the odds, what it's like to be the underdog, and how to really prove people wrong, I'm your guy. So I've really kind of stayed in that lane because that's me, that's my life, that's what I live. And I can pretty much tell you what it's like.

I think a second book called Under 160 is a good title. Just saying.

That's good because I'm playing around with titles right now.

That's pretty under 160. 160 messages to overcome the under whatever. I like it, use it, and it's all good. I'm telling you. Under160.com hello. Can you say Internet course, my man.

You. You're all right. Because I literally have been brainstorming titles. I like that one.

God works in funny ways. He fake. Fate's a funny thing.

JJ.under160.com is not taken care of.

Get that? Get that. We won't buy it even. Jj. Yeah. One of the best things you could do in our business is have a GoDaddy on your phone. So when these million dollar ideas come to your brain, see how quick Jason had it because he knows when I got five people, when I think of stuff, I call them. I say, hey, check GoDaddy by the domain right now. Under 160, I'm telling you, killer idea. Okay. You've been wonderful, wonderful. God bless you. God bless your family. Jj, what I want you to do is talk to my gappers today from your heart. Look it, it's a crazy time. The pandemic. Everything that's going on in the world is a challenging time. And you know what? I think everybody's an underdog right now. Tell us. Tell us your message of hope to our gappers and we're going to let you go. It's been such a pleasure. But what Would you like to tell our listeners today about what they need to be thinking about their life and their attitude?

I would say this. I mean, obviously, the last year has been pretty crazy. You know, we've all been dealing with uncertainty and this, that, and the other. But the worst is over. Right now, we need to be focusing on how we can be better, bigger, better, faster, more bolder, more productive. And here's one of my favorite JJ isms I want everybody to write down because you've heard the saying, when opportunity knocks, you answer the door. I want you to do it this way. When opportunity knocks, you don't answer the door. You rip the door off the hinges and you make opportunity stay. That means you get after it every single day, and you do whatever it takes to achieve the goals that are important to you.

All right, Spoken from the True man under 160. He may be under 160, but he plays like he's 360, like a big old one. Technique in the middle of a 50 defense. JJ Burden, it was a honor to speak to you and thank you so much for giving to our people today.

Now, Glenn, it was a pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity you've given me to be able to share a message and keep up the good work, because a lot of people need to hear positive, empowering content like this.

All right? And all you got to do is subscribe. All you got to do is, like, all you got to do is share. We are on every podcast platform. Please subscribe, share, and like us and follow us wherever you can. J.J. burden, God bless, and we will talk to you in the future. This is Glen Bill Signing. Signing off for the Get Attitude podcast. This podcast is a part of the C Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suiteradio.com.