Based on his statistics from the 2008 season, Trumaine (Joe) Sykes belongs in a video game.

As a member of the Green Bay Blizzard, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive lineman led af2 — the Arena Football League's satellite loop — in the regular season with 22 tackles for losses, 19.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles, and tied for the league lead with five fumble recoveries.

In the playoffs, he added 6.5 sacks — including an af2 postseason single-game record of five against the Lexington Horsemen — and two forced fumbles. Sykes subsequently was named the af2 defensive player-of-the-year and defensive lineman-of-the-year.

But the CFL is not af2, Mosaic Stadium is not a hockey rink, and Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive coordinator Gary Etcheverry is not familiar with Sykes' work in Green Bay.

"First of all, I'm not aware of any numbers he's put up, so I have a clean slate about the guys who come here," Etcheverry said Thursday after Sykes had a second consecutive stellar day at the Roughriders' rookie camp.

"He's been very impressive and we're very happy with his competitiveness. He's very bright and he knows what we're doing. We're really encouraged."

Sykes also earned praise from Roughriders head coach Ken Miller, who selected the 26-year-old product of Grenada, Miss., as one of Thursday's three standouts.

In one-on-one drills with rookie offensive linemen, Sykes used a variety of techniques to routinely force his way into the backfield.

"The (defensive) linemen are a yard off (the line of scrimmage), so you have to burst off the ball, get in the guy's chest and make your move," Sykes said. "In Arena, you're kind of head up on him. You can't get wide; it's tighter . . .

"It's a good adjustment. For my first two days, I'm just listening to the coaches because they're coaching me up pretty good. I'm learning."

After registering 10 sacks as a senior at Southern University, Sykes signed with the NFL's Washington Redskins. He played one regular-season game with them in 2006 before being released prior to the 2007 season.

Eager to play somewhere instead of waiting for other NFL teams to call, Sykes headed for Green Bay. To help him adjust to a game once described as "football in a can," coaches taught him how to play the angles — and that resulted in his monster season.

Etcheverry said he didn't have any concerns about Sykes' move from a game played in a hockey rink to one contested on a huge field.

"I think it's a benefit," Etcheverry said. "(In the CFL) you've still got to dominate and/or work in a fairly defined space even though it's a big field. Then there's his run-ability. He played cornerback as a 10th-grader in high school — corner-back. He ended up as a 12th-grader as a middle linebacker."

Now Sykes is a defensive lineman who believes he has yet to reach his prime. If he does, he believes he can recreate his disruptive ways from Green Bay.

"I don't know what the (sack) record is in Canada," Sykes said, "but I'm going to shoot for it."

He certainly would make a name for himself if he did so — which brings us to his handle.

Joe is usually a nickname given to someone named Joseph, so how does Trumaine become Joe?

"My older brother couldn't say 'Trumaine,' " Sykes said with a grin. "He used to say 'Joe-maine,' so my mom nicknamed me Joe. It stuck with me — and now Joe is my football name."

Story by Ian Hamilton, Leader-Post
Photograph by Roy Antal, Leader-Post
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