| Joe Sykes | |
|---|---|
 Joe Sykes during his tenure with the Albany Empire. | |
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Position: |
Defensive Lineman (#1) |
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Team: |
Albany Empire |
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Age: |
36 |
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Height: |
6' 4" |
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Weight: |
285 lbs. |
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AFL Achievements: |
1x ArenaBowl Champion (XXXII), 5x First-Team All-Arena (2012-13, 2015, 2018-19), 2x AFL Defensive Player of the Year (2012, 2015), AFL All-Time Leader in Sacks |
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Career History: |
Milwaukee Iron (2010), San Jose SaberCats (2012, 2014), San Antonio Talons (2013), Jacksonville Sharks (2015), Albany Empire (2018-present) |
Trumaine "Joe" Sykes (born November 22, 1982) is an American football defensive end for the Albany Empire primarily recognized for his play in the Arena Football League. Though his play has been consistently stellar, his appearance within the league has been rather sporadic, hopping between the AFL, the Canadian Football League, and other indoor football leagues since 2008. His debut in the AFL came in 2010 with the Milwaukee Iron, not contributing much. Not until 2012 with the San Jose SaberCats did Sykes become a major force. In only six seasons with the AFL, he has accumulated 65.5 career sacks, an AFL record. In 2019, at the age of 36, he won his first ArenaBowl title in ArenaBowl XXXII.
Moving Ways (2008-2010)[]
The talent of Joe Sykes speaks volumes when his tenure with Arena Football League is constantly put on-hold for bigger leagues such as the Canadian Football League. Beginning with the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 in 2008, Sykes would accumulate a total of twenty-two sacks while earning the sister-league's Defensive Player of the Year award. From there, he joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL in 2009, though didn't contribute much in the end. Not until the tail-end of the 2010 AFL season would Sykes see himself upon an AFL team, joining the Milwaukee Iron with four games left in their debut season. At that point, the Iron were coming off a two-game losing streak, putting their overall record at 7-5. Though their chances at the playoffs were good, they were competing with the 9-3 Chicago Rush for the division title. Whether coincidental or not, after signing Sykes, the Iron won their last four games to win the division, two of those four games coming against division rivals. In that span, Sykes recorded four solo tackles, two tackle assists, a pass break-up, and a fumble recovery. In the Iron's two career playoff games, Sykes recorded a sack in each game, along with another pass break-up.
Overall Statistics[]
| Year | Team | Tack | Asst | Sacks | PB | FF | FR | Blk | INT | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | MIL | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | SJ | 27 | 12 | 16.0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 1 |
| 2013 | SATX | 26 | 17 | 14.5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | SJ | 6 | 6 | 4.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | JAX | 29 | 16 | 18.5 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | ALB | 13 | 10 | 7.5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | ALB | 8 | 4 | 4.5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 113 | 67 | 65.5 | 24 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 1 |