Rocket Has Usual Flare in Debut : Canadian football: Ismail accounts for 213 yards, with 73 coming on a reverse on a punt return. Argonauts win.

With knees shaking and confidence breaking, with cynics and supporters, celebrities and reporters watching, the Rocket finally blasted off Thursday night.

Launchings that attract this much attention usually occur at Cape Canaveral.

But this one happened at Toronto’s SkyDome, where wide receiver/kick return specialist Raghib (Rocket) Ismail made his long-awaited debut for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in the team’s home opener before a crowd of 41,178.

Ismail did not play a major role in the team’s 41-18 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and that’s understandable, considering he had only practiced with his team for four days because of a nagging leg injury.

But he showed enough of the flash and speed he was known for at Notre Dame to reassure owner Bruce McNall that Ismail was worthy of his four-year, $14-million contract, which could, with additional perks, push that total above $20 million.

Ismail, taking a reverse on a punt return, raced 73 yards before being taken down at the Hamilton three-yard line. He returned another punt 14 yards. He returned four kickoffs a total of 88 yards. And he caught one pass for 38 yards, giving him a total of 213 yards in total offense.

It has been a struggle for Ismail since he left Notre Dame. He agonized over choosing between the CFL and the NFL before finally going with McNall. He worried about a pulled leg muscle that left him sidelined for both of his team’s exhibition games and last week’s season opener. He was concerned over criticism by teammates when he flew to Los Angeles in the middle of training camp.

And Thursday Ismail would have to prove himself in front of a viewing audience spread across North America (Prime Ticket will air the game tonight at 10:30) and a crowd that included enough stars to make the Lakers jealous. From hockey, there was Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and Eric Lindros and Marty McSorley.

McNall, Gretzky and comedian John Candy, owners of the team, each took part in a ceremonial pregame kickoff. Actor Jim Belushi did the coin flip. Dan Aykroyd and his Blues Brothers band performed.

And into this three-ring circus stepped Ismail, more nervous and short of confidence than he ever was at Notre Dame.

“I just kept saying to myself to relax,” Ismail said. “Don’t get caught up in everything. I was so nervous, my legs were shaking and they wouldn’t stop. Once I got hit, I said, ‘OK, I can take a hit. I haven’t taken one in a while.’ But the jitters wouldn’t stop. I was getting mad. Any other game, I would have done a lot more.”

He still did more than most expected. Toronto Coach Adam Rita had said he would only use Ismail in 50% of the offense until he gets better acclimated. But Ismail far exceeded that.

Rita even had him attempting to block punts. Fearful that the opposition would kick away from the much-heralded Ismail, Rita put him on the line on the punt return team and told him to rush the first two times.

On the third occasion, Ismail faked the rush then back-pedaled as teammate Mike Clemons fielded the punt. Clemons picked up two yards, then handed off to Ismail who came around on a reverse and nearly made it all the way to the end zone 76 yards away before being pulled down by defensive back Corris Ervin.

Rita said he has a few more tricks to get the ball in Ismail’s hands. And what did his high-priced, 21-year-old rookie think about being asked to block punts?

“He never batted an eyelash,” Rita said. “The one thing he has is speed and we are going to use it.”

Gretzky also found himself in an unusual role Thursday. He spent his first night as an owner after more than a decade as the best player in hockey. And it turned out, in some ways, to be frustrating, as he had to watch what he thought were cheap shots taken at Ismail by the Tiger-Cats.

“He’s their meal ticket,” Gretzky said. “People have to realize he’s going to make them all a lot of money.

“When he was out of bounds, a guy jumped on him. There were three face-masks against him. That’s ridiculous. If they want to hit and hit hard, that’s fine, but if some fool comes along and deliberately knocks him out of the game, that’s crazy.

“He won’t say anything about it and I’m the same way as a player. But as an owner, I have a different view. The refs better be watching. He doesn’t have to be treated specially. He just has to be treated properly.”

While the crowd was an improvement over the 30,000-plus the team averaged last season, it was far short of the 53,000-plus needed for capacity.