For the past 10 years, there has been something missing at Raider Stadium.

Charles Brownley.

For 28 years before his death, he was “Mr. Raider.” Dressed in a pirate costume and roaming the sidelines, he became one of the most constant symbols of the football team. Players, coaches and students would come and go, but Mr. Raider was a constant.

Fans may not be able to remember every game, but they can probably remember “Mr. Raider.”

It is fitting and proper that the Mr. Raider title died with Mr. Brownley, but he left behind a void. That’s something his wife, Claudette Brownley, says she never asked for nor wanted.

“Ten years is far too long for this school not to have a mascot,” Mrs. Brownley said this week. “I never had a problem with anyone wanting to take up what Charles did for so many years.”

Yet until now, nobody has stepped up to don the pirate costume and resume the role every Friday night in the fall. Since 2002 there has been a bronze statue of Mr. Brownley watching over the team, but no living, breathing mascot - until Kenny Thompson.

Friday night, Thompson hit the field when the Raiders opened the 2010 season against Charlotte Providence.

Thompson is crystal clear on what he is and what he isn’t.

“They can call me The Raider, The Pirate, Raider, whatever they want to call me.” Thompson said. “I will not be using the Mr. Raider name out of respect for Mrs. Claudette Brownley and Mr. Brownley. I’m not trying to take over or erase the legacy of Mr. Brownley. I’m simply trying to continue on what he did for those 28 years.”

And Cladette Brownley is smiling. If given the chance, she will tell you about her husband. If you’re lucky, she’ll break out the green binder with newspaper clippings about him.

Richmond Senior High School hadn’t even opened, and it was the night before the first football game. He mentioned that the team should have a mascot, but he felt it should be a student. She agreed to make the outfit, and then drove to Mason’s to get the material. The next night he donned the outfit and played the role for that first game, a 13-7 victory over Cheraw, S.C.

After that first year, the student council sent her husband a letter asking him to come back again and be the mascot.

He did until he died after a long illness.

We hope Mr. Thompson has just as long a history.