Plenty of great players have worn 72 in Dallas, but the conversation about the best of them rarely lasts long. Ed 'Too Tall' Jones holds the franchise record for career starts at 194, anchored a defense that won a Super Bowl, and racked up 106 sacks across a career that spanned fifteen seasons.
The numbers tell part of the story. The rest is in the way he played - a six-foot-nine end whose length swallowed passing lanes and whose batted balls became so frequent the league eventually started tracking the stat. Quarterbacks did not just have to beat him; they had to throw over him.
His career arc only deepens the legend. He left at his peak to box, went a perfect 6-0, and returned to post some of the best football of his life, earning three straight Pro Bowl selections in the early 1980s.
Add it all up - the durability, the dominance, the Super Bowl ring, the sheer originality - and the verdict is hard to argue. In a franchise full of legends, Ed 'Too Tall' Jones stands tallest among the men who wore his number.