Brown University football

It's not what you would think. Not the invincible, fist-pumping, chest-bumping days. No, the real bond is forged exactly where the rest of us would least imagine—in the moments of disappointment, moments of doubt. That's where you really learn about each other. "Honestly, thinking back, what I remember most is those bus rides back from games we lost," says Patrick O'Neill. "And that's crazy to say. We were very competitive. Second or third, pretty much every year we played in the Ivy League. But it's those losses where you really...