Ed Jones ( American football ) Ed Lee " Too Tall " Jones ( born February 23 , 1951 ) is a retired American football player in the NFL who played 15 years for the Dallas Cowboys . He played from 1974 – 1978 and 1980 - 1989 . In 1979 , he attempted a career in professional boxing . Early years . Jones attended Jackson Central - Merry High School where he played baseball and basketball . He only played three football games , because his high school didn ' t 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 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 . College career . 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 . 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 - America n 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 . Jones ranks third in school history in sacks in a season ( 12 ) and fifth in career sacks ( 38 ) . In 1999 he was voted to the 50th Anniversary Senior Bowl All - Time Team . Professional career . Dallas Cowboys ( first stint ) . In the 1974 NFL Draft , for the first time in their history , the Dallas Cowboys had the first overall draft choice . The No . 1 selection was acquired from the Houston Oilers in exchange for Tody Smith and Billy Parks . The Cowboys ended up drafting Jones , making him the first football player from a Historically Black College and University to go that high in the NFL draft . He became a starter at left defensive end during his second season in 1975 and by 1977 he had helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XII . 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 . Boxing career . From November 1979 through January 1980 , he won the six bouts he fought as a heavyweight , recording five knockout s . There has always been discussions about the quality of his opponents ; most of them were journeymen , the best probably being Mexican heavyweight champ Fernando Montes . But Jones was such an attraction , that CBS televised every one of his fights nationally . After his last ring appearance on Jan . 26 , 1980 , he announced he would return to play for the Dallas Cowboys , but has never openly discussed his reasons . Dallas Cowboys ( second stint ) . He returned to play for the 1980 season , replacing John Dutton at defensive end and performing better than his first stint with the team . Jones earned All - Pro and Pro - Bowl honors three times from 1981 to 1983 . He retired at the end of 1989 season , having never missed a game , playing the most games by any Cowboys player ( 232 ) and being tied with Mark Tuinei and Bill Bates for most seasons ( 15 ) . Jones was one of the most dominant defensive players of his era , playing in 16 playoff games and three Super Bowl s . 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 . The NFL didn ' t start recognizing quarterback sack s as an official stat until 1982 ; although the Cowboys have their own records , dating back before the 1982 season . According to the Cowboys ' stats , Jones is unofficially credited with a total of 106 quarterback sacks ( third most in team history ) and officially with 57 . He is the fifth leading tackler in franchise history with 1 , 032 . Later life . Jones was a guest referee at the World Wrestling Federation ' s WrestleMania 2 pay - per - view in 1986 . He refereed from outside of the ring during the 20 - man battle royale which included American football stars of the day . Jones starred in a GEICO commercial that initially aired in late 2009 . The commercial rhetorically asks if Jones is indeed " too tall , " then confirms it by showing a nurse attempting to measure his height , but breaking the medical scale ' s height rod when it doesn ' t reach high enough . The nurse then mutters , " I ' m just going to guesstimate . "