Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Jones signs autographs in January 2014.
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| No. 72 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 23, 1951 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Jackson, Tennessee | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 271 lb (123 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Merry High School | ||||||||
| College: | Tennessee State | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1974 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
| Sacks: | 57.5 (unofficially=106) |
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| Fumble Recoveries: | 19 |
| Interceptions: | 3 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Ed Lee "Too Tall" Jones (born February 23, 1951) is a retired American football player who played 15 seasons (1974–1978, 1980–1989) in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. In 1979, he briefly 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 only played 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 Minor league baseball 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.
He signed with Tennessee State University to play basketball, but left the team after two seasons, to concentrate on playing football under head coach John Merritt.
The 6'9" Jones received his famous nickname during his first football practice, after a teammate mentioned that his pants didn't 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 only lost 2 games, en route to winning the black college football national championship in 1971 and 1973.
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