JJ Birden was 5-foot-10, 157 pounds, got cut by four NFL teams in five days, and still played nine seasons as a professional wide receiver.

On Monday, July 27, the Lakeridge High School alumnus releases his second book, "Beat the Coverage: Six Strategic Steps to Win in Business and Life," aiming to hand readers the same framework he used to survive a league full of bigger, faster players.

"The title 'Beat the Coverage' came from my playing days, because, as a wide receiver, coverage is what stood between me and the end zone," Birden told the Lake Oswego Review. "And I just realized that everybody faces coverage — that little something that gets between them and the results that they want."

Birden, 61, holds the longest NFL career of any Lakeridge athlete, according to the Review.

He earned all-state first-team honors in football as a senior, and his 1982 Pacers squad, coached by Tom Smythe, reached the state quarterfinals before falling to Gresham, 32-14. In track, he won state titles in the triple jump and high hurdles.

Yet no Division I football program offered him a scholarship. He earned a track scholarship to the University of Oregon, walked onto the football team, and eventually heard his name called in the eighth round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

What followed was anything but smooth. Birden tore his ACL before playing a single game as a rookie and spent the year on injured reserve. After Cleveland released him, he landed on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad for 1989 without seeing the field. Then came the five-day stretch in which four teams cut him over injuries and failed physicals.

He finished his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 1996, totaling 244 catches for 3,441 yards and 17 touchdowns across 93 regular-season games, according to NFL.com.

The new book isn't a memoir. Birden, who works as a keynote speaker for organizations including Bank of America and Aflac, structured it around six steps: Know the Field, Find the Holes, Play to Your Strengths, Draw Up the Game Plan, Put in the Reps, and Execute & Adjust.

Birden grew up in Northeast Portland and entered the Lake Oswego School District in sixth grade after his mother enrolled him in a busing program to River Grove Elementary.

In 2010, the University of Oregon inducted Birden into its Athletic Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Ducks' 1985 NCAA championship track and field team.

"Beat the Coverage" is available for Kindle preorder. Hardcover and paperback editions go on sale Monday, July 27 on Amazon.