ED Jones

Dallas Cowboys Player Ed “Too Tall” Jones

Before the Dallas Cowboys
Ed Jones was born February 23, 1951 in Jackson, Tennessee. He attended Jackson Central-Merry High School where he played baseball and basketball. There were limitations to his play unfortunately; he only played three football games as his school did not support the sport until his senior year. In basketball, he earned All-American Honors and scholarship offers from several Division 1 programs. Because of his tool set and skills, Ed Jones also received offers from Major League Baseball teams as a first baseman in their minor league systems.

Jones signed with Tennessee State University to play basketball, but left after only two seasons. He wanted to concentrate on playing football under head coach John Merritt. While playing football, he earned All-American defensive lineman two times on a team that only lost two games. He won the Black College Football national champion ship in 1971 and 1973.

Dallas Cowboys Career

Ed Jones was drafted in 1974, a year that the Dallas Cowboys had the first overall draft choice. The No. 1 selection was acquired from the Houston Oilers, and the Cowboys ended up drafting Jones. He was the first football player from a historically black college and university to make it that far in the sport, an amazing feat for any player at the time. Jones was a starter at the left defensive end during his second season, and by 1977 he had helped the Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl XII.

Jones left the Dallas Cowboys briefly in 1979 and 1980 for a boxing career. He won six bouts he fought as a heavyweight and recorded 5 knockouts. His last ring appearance was in January of 1980, and he announced he would return to the Dallas Cowboys to continue playing football.

His first stint with the Dallas Cowboys team was good, but he truly excelled after he returned from boxing. He earned All-Pro honors three times and won Defensive MVP in 1982. He played in 224 games and retired as one of the most dominant defensive players of his era.

• Unofficially credited with a total of 106 quarterback sacks. (The NFL didn’t recognize this as an official stat until 1982)
• Part of three NFC championship teams
• Played 16 playoff games
• Played in 3 Super Bowls
• Played in more games than anyone else in Dallas Cowboys history

Get to Know Your Dallas Cowboy

Where is He Now?
Jones appeared as a guest referee at the WWF Wrestlemania 2 pay-per-view in 1986 and he starred in a GEICO commercial in 2009 where they asked ‘Is Ed “Too Tall” Jones too tall?”.

Fun Facts

• Got his “Too Tall” nickname in college when a fellow player noticed his pants were too short. Said he was “too tall to play football”
• Inspired the NFL to keep track of quarterback sacks
• As a senior, he fought a Golden Gloves match and knocked his opponent out in less than a minute.
• Stopped boxing when his basketball coach read an article about the fight, and made him choose between the sports.
• Tied with Mark Tuinei and Bill Bates for the most seasons in Dallas Cowboy Uniform #15