James Sykes

Syke's career was probably just a bit too short to gain him Hall-of-Fame status, but he did produce four 1000+ yard rushing seasons and 5870 yards career rushing.  Those stats are better than some running backs who have made it to the HOF.  Sykes was a draft pick of the Washington Redskins of the NFL in 1977 and spent one season with them.  Sykes signed with Calgary for the 1978 season and pushed HOF running back Willie Burden out of a job.  Sykes ran for 1026 yards and caught 50 passes for 614 more yards in his rookie season on the way to both Western and All-Canadian All-Star honours. In 1979, Sykes missed four games due to injuries which reducing his rushing total to 703 yards, but he then reeled off three straight 1000+ seasons for the Stampeders in 1980-82.  Sykes won All Canadian honours again in 1980 and was a Western All-Star in 1982 while leading the CFL in rushing in both 1980 and 1981.  Despite this success, Sykes was released by Calgary in September of 1983.  Winnipeg signed Sykes for one game in NOvember of that year before releasing him.  Sykes spent some time on the Bomber practice roster in 1984 and 1985, but did not see any action.  He finally got another chance to play in 1986 with Winnipeg and in just 7 games, ran for 447 yards.

Games Played and Rushing
Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long
1978 CAL 15 204 1026 5 13 31
1979 CAL 12 151 703 4.7 5 38
1980 CAL 16 222 1263 5.7 10 75
1981 CAL 15 240 1107 4.6 6 68
1982 CAL 15 193 1046 5.4 11 84
1983 WPG 1 12 62 5.2 0 15
1983 CAL 4 37 222 6 0 24
1986 WPG 7 97 447 4.6 3 57
Receiving
Year Team Rec Yds Avg TD Long
1978 CAL 50 614 12.3 1 62
1979 CAL 31 269 8.7 1 25
1980 CAL 57 582 10.2 1 72
1981 CAL 51 495 9.7 0 65
1982 CAL 27 222 8.2 0 19
1983 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1983 CAL 9 42 4.7 0 18
1986 WPG 10 62 6.2 2 14
Kickoff Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long
1978 CAL 20 496 24.8 0 36
1979 CAL 5 96 19.2 0 22
1980 CAL 30 715 23.8 0 61
1981 CAL 25 534 23.8 0 45
1982 CAL 6 122 20.3 0 25
1983 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1983 CAL 0 0 0 0 0
1986 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
Punt Returns
Year Team PR Yds Avg TD Long
1978 CAL 21 241 11.5 1 67
1979 CAL 3 27 9 0 16
1980 CAL 18 217 12.1 0 33
1981 CAL 0 0 0 0 0
1982 CAL 0 0 0 0 0
1983 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
1983 CAL 0 0 0 0 0
1986 WPG 0 0 0 0 0
Fumbles
Year Team F FL OFR
1978 CAL 5 3 0
1979 CAL 7 6 1
1980 CAL 7 4 4
1981 CAL 12 6 3
1982 CAL 9 5 3
1983 WPG 0 0 0
1983 CAL 1 1 0
1986 WPG 2 2 1
1981 Red Rooster