Rocket Ismail to be Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

[jerrym]

Rocket Ismail will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was the #1 overall NFL pick in 1991, but signed with the Argos instead during the Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky, John Candy era, helping to produce a buzz in the Toronto sports media that year that is a far cry from today's scene. He also helped lead the Argos to a Grey Cup win in his rookie year with an 87 yard kickoff TD return. The url below includes a video of that TD return.



It was announced earlier today that former Argonaut WR/KR Raghib “Rocket” Ismail will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (https://footballfoundation.org/news/2019/1/3/nff-announces-legendary-2019-college-football-hall-of-fame-class.aspx) after being named to the induction Class of 2019.
Rocket played two seasons in Double Blue and was a member of the 1991 Grey Cup Championship team. Over his two seasons, he accumulated 1951 receiving yards, 1925 KO return yards, 1216 punt return yards, while scoring 21 touchdowns.


Prior to signing with the Argos Rocket spent his collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame. Ismail was a two-time First Team All-American and was a runner-up for the 1990 Heisman Trophy. Ismail led the Fighting Irish to an undefeated national championship season in 1988.
Rocket will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10, 2019.
https://www.argonauts.ca/2019/01/07/former-argo-rocket-ismail-inducted-college-football-hall-fame/


A summary of his entire career can be found below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghib_Ismail

[Stevoman]

I was a fan of the Argos since about 1985 or so but 1990 and especially 1991 cemented the Argos as equal or above the Maple Leafs in terms of teams I truly care for. All the hype for the Rocket and the Cinderella season made for a very special season and a life long fan.

[ArgoZ]

Ismail was projected as #1, but went 100 after he signed with the Argos. What’s amazing about the article is that his contract was the largest football contract at that time, including yearly salary. Can you imagine the Argos spending something like a top NFL contract worth 25 million year/150 million total, for a single player today?

[ArgoRavi]

Ismail was projected as #1, but went 100 after he signed with the Argos. What’s amazing about the article is that his contract was the largest football contract at that time, including yearly salary. Can you imagine the Argos spending something like a top NFL contract worth 25 million year/150 million total, for a single player today?

The Argos upstaged the NFL draft in 1991. On that day, everyone in North America was talking about the Argos. It was incredible!