Notre Dame has had a wide variety of mascots throughout the years. Included in that list is our current mascot Knighty Knight, a goofy character that represents the spirit and heart of Notre Dame. He leads the student section at football games, fires up the crows at rallies, and supports many other sports on campus too. 

This year has not been Knighty Knight’s first rodeo, as he has been used intermittently throughout the years. During 2021 and 2022, Knighty Knight made sparse debuts, eventually disappearing in 2023. Everyone thought the costume was retired, exiled from this castle, but now he is back and better than ever. 

Knighty Knight made a massive return for this year. Senior ASB — championed by Ms. Patarias — has brought Knighty Knight out of retirement. He has made numerous appearances at football games, rallies, and other school events. At first, the identity of the man in the suit was kept heavily guarded, however, he was recently unmasked. During the football game on October 5th, the helmet came off, revealing Knighty Knight to be Brian Razon. 

Brian Razon is a senior at Notre Dame who has been in the costume since his Freshman year. I sat down with him to give students a new insight into Knighty Knight and the man behind him. 

Brian decided to join the mascot crew in freshman year. “I remember I was in Mr. Good’s Early Global Studies class listening to the announcements and they said if you want to be part of the mascot team, come to the NDTV Room.” 

There was no particular reason Brian joined. “Honestly, I was just bored and I was like ‘this seems like it’d be kind of fun,” and Brian did indeed have fun. He went on to play Knighty Knight at many important sporting events and rallies that school year. However, he was forced to stop when Knighty Knight went on retirement for two years. But when Knight Knight came back, Brian was thrilled. “I decided to come back this year…My friend Tyler [Torres ‘25] is on ASB and he asked me if I was down to do it. I was down.”

The burning question everybody has been wanting to know; What is it like inside the Knighty Knight costume? “It’s really hot in there, it’s like an oven. It’s very humid, it’s very moist, you can’t see, but it’s very fun. People are like ‘Who’s in there?’ ‘Who’s in there?’ When you walk by…I feel like that sort of mystery behind it also adds to the appeal.” 

Knighty Knight is one of the cores of school pride for Notre Dame, a sentiment Brian agreed within our interview. “I think Knighty Knight represents school spirit, because that’s the whole point of a mascot, to embody the symbol of the school. Showing up to all the events. You know, if it’s for football games, hyping up the crowd at rallies, that’s school spirit.” There is that mystery element to Knighty Knight. “Yeah, I feel like that sort of mystery behind it also adds to the appeal. I feel like a lot of people like Knighty Knight because they don’t know who’s in it. People go crazy when there’s an assumption, like on the NDTV segment with Mr. Good.” Brian the people have to know, who are your accomplices in the suit? “I cannot tell you that.” But do not worry readers, we will figure that out in due time. But for now, that is all. 

Knighty Knight represents the best qualities of a high school mascot. He’s energetic, fun, and always having a good time. So next time you see our good old Knight at a game or rally, you know just a little more about him. This has been a late night with the good knight, Knighty Knight, nighty night Knights.