Unlike the biblical character Samson, Harvard football captain Brian Ramer seems to draw strength from the loss of his hair.

"When we were freshmen, Brian was a skinny, pencil-necked kid with hair," senior defensive back Jae Ellis said. "Now he is a huge, bald linebacker."

Ramer had sported a crew-cut since his senior year in high school, but he decided to shave it off before his sophomore season at Harvard.

"Everyone got a big kick out of it," Ramer said.

Ramer, however, sprained his knee that year and saw only limited action on special teams, so he stopped shaving his head that season.

Going into his junior year, Ramer decided to sport the shine once again to see what would happen, and success has followed him in a big way ever since.

"I shaved my head before the first game [last year] and we did well," Ramer said. "So, I kept shaving it every Friday. It has become something I look forward to every week."

Whether or not Ramer's dome was the reason for his success as a junior, he earned so much from his teammates for his leadership both on and off the field that they voted him the 1993 captain.

"When my players voted me in, it was pure excitement at first," Ramer said. "Then the responsibility of the whole thing hit me. But it's great."

"He's really open to ideas," senior quaterback Mike Giardi said. "He's an emotional leader, but he's also the type of guy who leads by example."

And several players, including Ellis and senior defensive back Chris Andre, took Ramer's cue and shaved their heads before the first game of this season.

"I got a kick out of it," Ramer said. "However, they let it grow back and now they can't seem to comb it. My hair grows in a lot faster since I shave it every week."

Not bad for someone who had been playing a different brand of football 12 years ago. As a young boy growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramer took to the game of soccer.

One day during the fifth grade, however, he joined a few friends who were playing some street football.

"I liked it," Ramer said. Later in the year, his pals suggested that they try out for a team.