Raghib Rocket Ismail

Raghib (Rocket) Ismail sustained a concussion at the end of a 39-yard punt return and missed the second half of the Toronto Argonauts' 32-6 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Get the football into the hands of Raghib Ismail and good things usually follow. From his early playing days in Newark, N.J., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to Notre Dame and then to the Canadian Football League, that was the rule to live by for the team that had the player nicknamed "Rocket." So when Ismail joined the Raiders before the start of last season, after two seasons in the Canadian Football League, it was understandable that fans expected instant results.

Junior Raghib (Rocket) Ismail has not discussed a possible move to the NFL with school officials, Notre Dame spokesman John Heisler said. The National reported that Ismail, second in Heisman Trophy voting, probably will skip his senior season for the NFL draft.

Now what? Now that the Raiders know they will be without leading rusher Greg Robinson, probably out for the remainder of the regular season because of torn cartilage, what are their options? --They can go back to Nick Bell, originally tabbed as the starting tailback before the season. --They can give more carries to fullback Steve Smith and seldom-used Ty Montgomery. --They can try rookie Randy Jordan. --They can attempt to sign an out-of-work running back.

Reebok Catches the 'Rocket': He's no Bo Jackson, but Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, regarded as one of the fastest wide receivers in football, has signed an undisclosed, multi-year contract with Reebok International Ltd. to endorse and promote the company's new Preseason Collection of athletic shoes and apparel. In 1991, "Rocket" led the Toronto Argonauts to their first CFL Championship title--the Grey Cup--in nine years, a victory that also earned him Grey Cup MVP honors.

An injured leg muscle stalled Raghib (Rocket) Ismail's planned debut in the Canadian Football League Wednesday night. Ismail, the first pick in last May's NFL draft before being lured north with a four-year contract that could pay him $26 million, wore a baseball cap, not a Toronto Argonaut helmet, as he watched his team's 29-15 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the exhibition opener before 31,196 in the 53,595-seat SkyDome.

Starting play Sunday, Rocket Ismail was listed third on the depth chart as a kickoff returner behind Greg Robinson and Alexander Wright. At Notre Dame, Ismail returned five kickoffs for touchdowns, one short of the NCAA record held by USC's Anthony Davis. Playing in the Grey Cup championship game in his first season with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, Ismail returned a kickoff 87 yards against the Calgary Stampeders to clinch a victory.

Raghib Ismail shot off the bench Sunday as if he were, well, a rocket. It had been two years since he left Notre Dame, seven months since he left the Canadian Football League and five weeks since he had signed with the Raiders. Finally, in the second quarter of the Raiders' fourth game, Ismail got the call he'd begun to wonder if he would ever get. Assistant coach Terry Robiskie yelled out Ismail's name.

Whenever it seems that receiver/return man Rocket Ismail is about to launch his NFL career, the countdown is put on hold. His first flight has been scrubbed more times than the floor of an operating room. When Ismail was streaking down the field for Notre Dame as one of college's football's premier players, there was speculation that he would hit the NFL with a bang worthy of his nickname as the No. 1 pick in the draft.

It took five months of negotiations to get Rocket Ismail into a Raider uniform. It took only five exhibition games to get Gaston Green out of his Raider uniform. The club activated Ismail, the receiver-return man from Notre Dame by way of the Canadian Football League, Saturday and terminated Green, the veteran running back, making him a free agent.

Rocket Ismail will not be activated by the Raiders for today's game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Raiders have been granted a two-game roster exemption on Ismail, who reported to the club only last Wednesday after five months of negotiations. The Raiders believed that three days of practice was not enough time to prepare the receiver-kick returner.

Raider Coach Art Shell stood before a bank of microphones, surveyed the media crowd around him, looked anxiously at the entrance to the interview room and said, with a smile, "We're still waiting." Not any longer.

The Raiders have agreed in principle with receiver/return man Raghib (Rocket) Ismail on a two-year contract worth slightly less than $3 million, according to his attorney, Bob Woolf. According to Steve Ortmayer, the Raiders' director of football operations, the deal isn't final, but he planned on working late into Monday night in an attempt to hammer out the final details. And Ismail? He was sitting by his phone late Monday night at his home near Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Raghib (Rocket) Ismail was driving down a road near his home in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., when it hit him. Suddenly, all the frustration of this summer washed over him. Frustration over not yet signing with the Raiders? Frustration over his inability to finally get into an NFL training camp? Frustration over his failure to settle his football future? No, Ismail is not worried about any of the above. He figures, when it happens, it happens.