The Greatest That Wasn't

"The Rocket"--Notre Dame's Raghib Ismail may have been the most exciting player in the past 25 years. Although he was just 5'11", Ismail was lightening quick and had breakaway speed and received the bonus of playing in the national spotlight known as Notre Dame. During his stay in South Bend, the Irish played for 2 National Titles (winning in 1988) for Coach Lou Holtz. Ismail was a 2 time All American, twice a Top 10 finalist for the Heisman (although the closest he came was #2, losing to Ty Detmer of BYU), and a Walter Camp Award Winner.

Rocket splashed on the national scene in 1989 with his two kickoff returns against Michigan--both of which went for scores. However, the most infamous play of his career took place in the 1991 Orange Bowl against the University of Colorado. Late in the game, the Buffs were leading the Irish who had just made a defensive stand. Ironically, you can hear the announcer state the obvious:" Surely, he'll just punt the ball out of bounds." Of course, he doesn't and Ismail takes the ball on the 9 yard line and gives one of the greatest punt returns ever. However, no box score will ever reflect that as a clipping call nullifies the punt return and Colorado goes on to claim the National Title.

After college, Ismail continued to shock the football world as he took the the-n largest football contract in North America with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL (owned at that time by Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy). The LA Raiders quietly took his NFL rights at pick #100 in the draft while Rocket won the Grey Cup in the CFL. After 2 years in the frozen North, Ismail returned to the NFL and sunny LA putting together a solid, if unspectacular career with the Raiders, Panthers and Cowboys.

While it is well know that Raghib's younger brother, Quadry (nicknamed "The Missile" to Raghib's "The Rocket") who starred at Syracuse and had a career in the NFL with the Ravens, few talk about his youngest brother, Sulaiman "The Bomb" Ismail. The Bomb walked on at UTEP in 1995 and played with the New York Dragons of the Arena League.