Raiders Deny Knowledge of Escape Clause : Pro football: They say they were not aware that Ismail could be available after one year in CFL.

Contrary to growing speculation, the Raiders said Wednesday they did not know that Raghib (Rocket) Ismail has an escape clause in his Toronto Argonauts contract that allows the receiver to leave the Canadian Football League after one year.

Ismail, the projected No. 1 choice in the NFL draft, opted instead to sign a four-year, $18.2-million contract with the Argonauts, owned by Bruce McNall, who also owns the Los Angeles Kings.

Despite Ismail’s decision, the Raiders traded two mid-round draft picks to the New England Patriots in return for a fourth-round selection Sunday, which the Raiders used to secure Ismail’s rights should he ever decide to play in the NFL.

Steve Ortmayer, the Raiders’ director of football operations, said his team’s actions were consistent with previous draft-day gambles--on Bo Jackson, Napoleon McCallum and Mervyn Fernandez--and that no questionable motives should be inferred.

“Certainly, we did not have contract discussions with him,” Ortmayer said. “We did not do that. We simply made a judgment based on the facts we knew.”

Sue Waks, chief financial officer for McNall, has confirmed that Ismail can leave the CFL team after any of the four years for which he signed.

If Ismail decides to leave the Argonauts before his contract expires, the Raiders will have orchestrated quite a coup.

The consensus after several interviews with NFL personnel was that four teams--the Raiders, the Atlanta Falcons, the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots--had prior knowledge of Ismail’s clause.

Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville said Wednesday he knew of Ismail’s escape option but doubted it would have changed the draft. “Even if they all knew it, I don’t think he would have been drafted higher than what the Raiders drafted,” he said. “We would have drafted him on the second day.”

The Cowboys acknowledged that they learned of Ismail’s option two days before the draft, yet the team declined to use the first of four fourth-round choices on Ismail, selecting Pittsburgh running back Curvin Richards instead. The Raiders drafted Ismail three picks later. One NFL general manager, who requested anonymity, said he would consider any prior knowledge of Ismail’s deal an act of tampering, and vowed to raise his objections with the league office.

Is it a legitimate complaint or sour grapes?

Joe Browne, the NFL’s vice president of communication and development, said prior knowledge in this case did not constitute tampering. “There is nothing to show that there were any violations of an NFL rule,” Browne said. “Information of this kind, each club is responsible for getting it.”

What did the Raiders know and when did they know it?

There is little doubt the Raiders feared Ismail might not last until the fifth round, which explained why they traded their 1991 fifth-round pick and next year’s fourth-round choice to New England to move up into the Patriots’ fourth-round position. Cowboy owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday his team was interested in taking Ismail in the fourth round, as the 106th player, before the Raiders traded up and took the receiver with their newly acquired No. 100 slot.

Ortmayer said he received dozens of phone calls Wednesday on the Ismail issue, most probing its allegedly shady undertones.

“The perceptions generated in the last 48 hours have been amazing,” he said. “But perceptions are not reality.”

The fact the Raiders used such a high choice on Ismail raises questions, but it is not unprecedented. In 1985, the Cowboys used a fifth-round pick on Herschel Walker while the tailback was playing in the United States Football League.

Walker ultimately signed with Dallas after the USFL folded, and last year the Cowboys traded Walker to Minnesota for multiple draft picks and players.

The Raiders have long been risk-takers with draft choices. In 1983, they drafted Fernandez in the 10th round even though he had opted for the CFL. In 1986, the team took Napoleon McCallum in the fourth round even though his career was in doubt because of a U.S. Navy commitment. In 1987, the Raiders picked Bo Jackson, who originally spurned the NFL to pursue a baseball career, in the seventh round.

“Those were shots we took,” Ortmayer said. “We believe that at some point in time, the Rocket may decide to do something different. If he does, we’ll be there.”

Times staff writer Bob Oates contributed to this story.