Arena Football League Communications

CHICAGO – Throughout the 2012 season, the Arena Football League has been counting down a number of “Top 25” lists to celebrate the League’s Silver Anniversary. The lists have ranged from the “25 Greatest Uniforms in AFL History” to the “25 Greatest Players in AFL History”. The majority of these lists have been voted on by the Silver Anniversary Committee, group consisting of longtime AFL executives, media members and former players.

The League also wanted to include fans in select voting categories. Subscribers to AFL Field Pass, the official fan club of the Arena Football League, were tasked with deciding upon the Top 25 Players of the 2012 regular season. During Week 19 of the AFL season, the League office collected ballots from members and tallied the votes. The results will be divided into five segments, beginning with numbers 21-25 and ending with the announcement of the Top 5 Players of 2012 on Friday night. The list continued tonight with numbers 16 through 20, and SaberCats defensive lineman Joe Sykes came in at number 17.

17.             San Jose SaberCats DL Joe Sykes

One would be hard-pressed to find a more dominant defensive lineman in 2012 than Joe Sykes. The second-year man has notched an AFL-record 16 sacks in 2012 to go along with 18 tackles for loss. Sykes was awarded Riddell Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording a single-game franchise record four sacks against Iowa. He would earn the award again in Week 14 by recording 2.5 sacks and a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown against Orlando. With 33 tackles and five forced fumbles to his name, Sykes is a candidate for both the Game Tape Exchange Defensive Lineman of the Year and Riddell Defensive Player of the Year.