Gene Sykes

{{Short description|American football player (1941–2018)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{sources|date=April 2016}}

{{Infobox NFL player

|image=

|birth_date={{Birth date|1942|9|26|mf=y}}

|birth_place=New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|2018|10|26|1942|9|26|mf=y}}

|death_place=Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.

|position=Defensive back

|number =23

|high_school=Covington (LA)

|college=LSU

|height_ft=6

|height_in=1

|weight_lbs=201

|draftyear=1963

|draftround=8

|draftpick=106

|afldraftyear=1963

|afldraftround=19

|afldraftpick=148

|pfr=SykeEu20

|teams=*Buffalo Bills (1963–1965)

• Denver Broncos (1966)

| highlights =

• 2× AFL champion (1964, 1965)

}}

Eugene Charle Sykes (September 26, 1941 – October 26, 2018) was an American football defensive back. Sykes scored a touchdown in LSU's 25–7 defeat of Colorado in the 1962 Orange Bowl. In 1963, he appeared with the LSU team in the Cotton Bowl, where they defeated Texas 13–0, and in the Hula Bowl All-Star Game.

As a professional, Sykes was drafted by the American Football League (AFL)'s Buffalo Bills, playing for them in 1963 and for their AFL Championship teams of 1964 and 1965. He finished his Professional Football career with the AFL's Denver Broncos in 1966.