Rocket’s Career Remains in Recess : Raiders: Former Notre Dame star still waiting to sign first contract with NFL team.

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.

Ismail’s frustration stems from his failure to attend summer school this year.

That concerns him.

“When the date to get into summer school passed, it was weird,” said Ismail from his home. “I was frustrated because I realized that I could have been there. Man, I could have done something else this summer. I wasted it.”

Sure, Ismail is one of the most famous football players in North America, an exciting, electric performer as both a receiver and return man, a blazing-fast star whose style is best captured in his nickname, Rocket.

And yes, he is one of the few football players with a chance to excel at three different levels of major competition. He has gone from being one of college football’s premier players while at Notre Dame, to being the Canadian Football League’s star attraction while a Toronto Argonaut, to the doorstep of the National Football League.

But on the doorstep he has remained, stuck at the entrance to the training camp of the Raiders, who made him a fourth-round draft choice in 1991, unable to reach agreement on his first NFL contract.

But, Ismail insists, there is no pressure to do so. The only pressure he feels is to finish school.

Ismail, who left Notre Dame after his junior year to turn pro, needs four more classes to get his degree. He has completed about 25 units in his major, American studies, since leaving the campus.

“That’s the only pressure on my shoulders, to graduate and get it done,” he said, “That way I’ll have something in case things don’t work out with the Raiders.”

Most people assumed things would have been worked out by now. After all, for a player who has yet to play a single down in the NFL, training camp would seem important.

But negotiations between Ismail’s agent, Bob Woolf, and the Raiders have dragged on.

They are close on the length of the deal, two or three years, but not so close on the money. Woolf was believed to be asking for about $1.5 million a season. The Raiders initially offered a total of $1 million over two seasons, then were thought to have come up to about $1.1 million a season.

“I understand that they don’t want to pay me if they don’t know for sure how things are going to work out,” Ismail said. “People don’t want to look stupid.”

But Ismail is confident he won’t make the Raiders look stupid for drafting him. He says his shifty moves and searing speed can be as effective in the NFL as they were at other levels.

“I look at the players I played against when I was at Notre Dame and a whole slew of them are now in the NFL,” he said. “I had a little success against them.”

So Ismail keeps his confidence intact and his fate in Woolf’s hands.

“I trust his judgment,” Ismail said of his agent. “Whatever he thinks is fair is fine with me.”

And while the talks go on, Ismail stays home and helps supervise the remodeling of his mother’s home.

A typical day consists of going to the chiropractor in the morning to keep his body tuned, running errands in the late morning and early afternoon, and then working out in the late afternoon and evening. Ismail runs pass patterns on a nearby field and practices catching kicked balls as a return man, then lifts weights.

“This is the longest I’ve been home since high school,” he said. “I’ve been helping with the construction on my mom’s house. It’s nice to see it all come together before my eyes. I used to only hear about this kind of thing on the phone.”

But football is never far from Ismail’s mind. Just the other day, the phone rang and it was Lou Holtz, Ismail’s coach at Notre Dame where Ismail was a two-time All-American and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in his final season.

“All the freshmen and veterans are here,” Holtz told Ismail. “But we sure could use you.”

That’s what the Argonauts thought, too, when they signed Ismail to a four-year deal worth $18 million in 1991. Most of that money was provided for in a personal-services contract with owner Bruce McNall. The idea was to use Ismail to promote both the Argonauts and the CFL.

McNall, also the owner of the Los Angeles Kings, had just stepped into the world of pro football with partners Wayne Gretzky, his superstar hockey player, and comedian John Candy.

But the promotion part never seemed to quite work out with Ismail. Toronto media outlets repeatedly complained about Ismail’s failure to serve as an effective spokesman for the team, citing his tendency to duck interviews or not show up for engagements.

They still talk about the time he snuck out of a locker room at the bottom of a laundry cart to avoid reporters.

Ismail doesn’t quite see it that way.

“I promoted them just by being there,” he said. “People would say, ‘There’s the Rocket.’ It was just like at Notre Dame.”

It didn’t help, of course, that, as Ismail’s numbers fell in his second season, so did the Argonauts.

As a rookie, he led Toronto to a 13-5 record and the CFL championship. The Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup game, Ismail clinching the victory with an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

He was most valuable player in the championship game, attendance for the season was up dramatically in Toronto and all was well in Ismail’s world.

He had caught 64 passes for 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns and added another 1,388 yards and a touchdown on kickoff and punt returns.

But last season, Ismail, injured part of the time, caught only 36 passes for 651 yards. He increased his return yardage to 1,753 with a touchdown, but the Argonauts slipped out of contention at 6-12 and attendance dropped.

Ismail had worn out his welcome.

“My only regret is that it was the first time since my second year in high school that I had been part of a losing team,” he said. “I was looking forward to erasing what had happened. Not being able to do that was the most disappointing thing.

“But other than that, God has blessed me. Man, it was a real positive situation. Real cool, real fun. I remember one day in Toronto, I looked out over the city and I couldn’t believe I was in that situation. I was real lucky. When I was 10 years old, who would think that a kid from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., would be doing that.”

Ismail is looking forward to joining the Raiders, who won’t expect him to shoulder most of the promotional load.

“Man, they got so many dudes who can do that, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “That aspect will be cool.”

Another aspect, though, won’t be. Whatever the Raiders’ final offer is, it will be a vast cut from Ismail’s $3.5-million annual salary with the Argonauts.

“I’m not into a lot of material things,” he said. “I don’t go crazy with money. There’s the house and my mom’s car. Those are the only things I’ve paid for. I’ve got investments, so I’ve been pretty fortunate. It’s not a case where I have to sign tomorrow or I’m going under. Fortunately, I’m set more than most guys my age.

“If I don’t do it with the Raiders this year, it will be next year. If not next year, then the year after. If not then, well, it’s been fun but it’ll be about time to get on with life.”