Trumaine "Joe" Sykes (born November 22, 1982) is a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who is currently a free agent. He was originally signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

. Sykes has also played for the

Green Bay Blizzard Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

and the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

Early life

Sykes attended

Grenada High School Grenada High School is a public high school located in Grenada, Mississippi, United States. It educates students in grades 9 through 12 and is the only high school in the Grenada School District. History The first public high school in Grenada w ...

Grenada, Mississippi Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,092 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County, Mississippi, Grenada County. History ...

. Sykes was a member of the basketball and football teams while at Grenada.

College career

Holmes C.C.

Sykes began his college career at

Holmes Community College Holmes Community College is a public community college headquartered in Goodman, Mississippi. It also has campuses in Grenada; Ridgeland; and Goodman, the location of the main or original campus. Holmes has satellite campuses in Attala, Webs ...

in Mississippi. Sykes played two years at Holmes, becoming an

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-American. Sykes committed to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

on July 8, 2003. Sykes chose West Virginia over football scholarship offers from

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, Ole Miss,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

West Virginia

Sykes enrolled at West Virginia in January so he could familiarize himself with the playbook. Sykes appeared in 9 games in 2004, recording 4 tackles with 1.0 sack.

Southern

His senior year of college, Sykes transferred to

. In his one year with the Jaguars, Sykes was named first team All- SWAC, after leading the conference in sacks with 9.

Professional career

Return to San Jose

On January 27, 2014, Sykes was traded back to the SaberCats in exchange for

Mitch Mustain Mitchell Stewart Mustain (born February 27, 1988) is a former professional football player. He played high school football and baseball at Springdale High School in Springdale, Arkansas. Mustain played his first year of college football at the U ...

and Jabari Fletcher.

Pittsburgh Power

On September 25, 2014, Sykes was assigned to the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference (AC) in the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2011, the Power ...

. The Power folded in November 2014.

Jacksonville Sharks

On January 12, 2015, Sykes was assigned to the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

. Following the seasons end, Sykes was named the Defensive Lineman of the Year for the third time in his career. Sykes was also named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career.

Monterrey Steel

On March 24, 2017, Sykes signed with the

Monterrey Steel The Monterrey Steel was a professional indoor football team and a charter member of the National Arena League (NAL) that played in the 2017 season. Based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, the Steel played their home games at Arena Monterrey. The Stee ...

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

Albany Empire

On March 19, 2018, Sykes was assigned to the Albany Empire. On July 18, 2018, Sykes was named the AFL's Defensive Lineman of the Year for the 4th time.

References

External links

Southern Jaguars bioWest Virginia Mountaineers bioSaskatchewan Roughriders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Trumaine 1982 births Living people American football defensive linemen Canadian football defensive linemen People from Grenada, Mississippi Holmes Bulldogs football players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Southern Jaguars football players Washington Redskins players Green Bay Blizzard players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Edmonton Elks players Milwaukee Iron players San Jose SaberCats players Sacramento Mountain Lions players San Antonio Talons players Pittsburgh Power players Jacksonville Sharks players Monterrey Steel players Albany Empire (AFL) players