Ed "Too Tall" Jones

Edward Lee Jones (born February 23, 1951), commonly known as Ed "Too Tall" Jones due to his height, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 15 seasons (1974–1978, 1980–1989) for the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL).

The 6 ft Jones received his famous nickname during his first football practice, after a teammate mentioned that his pants did not fit, because he was “too tall to play football". In his new sport, he became a two-time All-American defensive lineman, playing on a team that lost only two games, en route to winning the black college football national championships in 1971 and 1973.

Jones ranks third in school history in sacks in a season with 12 and fifth in career sacks with 38.

In the 1974 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys had the first overall draft choice for the first time in their history.

Their no. 1 selection had been acquired from the Houston Oilers in exchange for Tody Smith and Billy Parks.

The Cowboys drafted Jones, making him the first football player from a historically black college to go that high in the NFL draft.

After playing five years for the Cowboys from 1974 through 1978, Jones at 28 years old and in the prime of his athletic career, left football to attempt a professional boxing career.

A former Golden Gloves fighter in Tennessee, Jones fought six professional bouts as a heavyweight, with a perfect 6–0 record and five knockouts.

Due to his high profile as a football player, all of Jones' fights were televised nationally by CBS.

He became a starter at left defensive end during his second season in 1975, and in 1977 he helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XII.

In 1979, he left football to attempt a career in professional boxing.

Jones was born in Jackson, Tennessee.

He attended Merry High School, where he played baseball and basketball.

He played only three football games, because his high school did not support the sport until his senior year.

His basketball skills earned him All-America honors and scholarship offers from several Division I (NCAA) programs.

He also had offers from Major League Baseball teams to play first base in their farm systems.

As a senior, he fought a Golden Gloves boxing match, recording a knockout of his opponent in less than a minute.

He stopped shortly after that, when his basketball coach read an article about the fight, and made him choose between basketball and boxing.

Jones accepted a scholarship from Tennessee State University to play basketball, but left the team after two seasons, to concentrate on playing football under head coach John Merritt.

His pro boxing debut, held in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on November 3, 1979, was controversial.

Despite giving away over fifty pounds, opponent Abraham Yaqui Meneses dropped Jones with a left hook in the sixth and final round, then hit Jones again illegally when he was down.

Jones' cornerman then entered the ring illegally and attempted to revive his fighter with an ammonia bottle.

Referee Buddy Basilico reasoned that since both fighters had broken the rules, he would punish neither of them, and let the fight go on.

Jones survived the round and was awarded a narrow majority decision, causing the pro-Meneses crowd to boo loudly.

The Meneses bout was the only one of Jones' fights that he did not win by knockout.

But his other five opponents were journeymen at best, with the arguable exception of Mexican heavyweight champ Fernando Montes, whom Jones knocked out in just 44 seconds on November 24, 1979.

After his last ring appearance on January 26, 1980, Jones announced that he would return to play for the Cowboys.

Jones returned to play for the 1980 season, replacing John Dutton at defensive end and performing better than his first stint with the team.

He earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors three times from 1981 to 1983.

He was one of the most dominant defensive players of his era, playing in 16 playoff games and three Super Bowls.

He was part of three NFC championship teams and the Super Bowl XII champion.

His success batting down passes convinced the NFL to keep track of it as an official stat.

In 1985, at the age of 34 years old, although he was limited with a hamstring injury during the season, he achieved a career-high of 13 sacks.

He also had 80 tackles and 13 blocked passes.

In the fifteenth game, he batted a Phil Simms pass into the hands of teammate Jim Jeffcoat, who returned it 65 yards for a touchdown, to change the momentum in the 28-21 win for the NFC East title.

In 1987, he led the team in sacks (10) for the second time in the previous three years.

He also tallied 61 tackles, 7 blocked passes and one fumble recovery.

In 1999, he was voted to the 50th Anniversary Senior Bowl All-Time Team.

In 2013, he was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

In a 2016 interview, Jones called boxing his favorite sport and said that fighting "was probably the best decision [he] ever made," because his boxing training regimen made him a better football player.