After Getting $6-Million Offer, Ismail Considers Intangibles

Notre Dame’s Raghib (Rocket) Ismail hasn’t decided yet whether to play football in Canada or the NFL this year, he said in Los Angeles Friday.

“I’m still (balancing) the intangibles,” Ismail said, acknowledging that the Toronto Argonauts would give him more money and that the NFL would give him more prestige--assuming he is drafted No. 1 by the New England Patriots April 21, as expected.

“I’m not leaning either way, (but) I did enjoy Toronto this week,” he said of what he called his fact-finding trip to Canada. “It’s a culturally diverse city, (and) more of a metropolitan center than I expected. I came away with a positive feeling about Toronto and Canadian football.”

Ismail, who could pocket a record $6 million as a 1991-92 Argonaut, also made a positive impression on Canada, according to the club’s chief financial officer, Suzan Waks. “Up there, they were already calling him the Bo Jackson of Canada,” she said.

King owner Bruce McNall, who is also the principal owner of the Argonauts, considers his chances good in the Ismail market. “Raghib and his (agents) are giving us an honest, fair look,” McNall said.