“It helps you focus,” replies Traverso.

Mujalli moves on to Bakken, who freely admits that he draws comic book characters and Disney characters for wall decorations. A slight disagreement arises when Mujalli says that Bakken also writes poetry.

Apparently that’s taking the softer side of O-linemen too far.

“Come on, you write poetry,” Mujalli insists over Bakken’s protests. “Those haikus count!”

“I don’t even know what a haiku is,” Bakken replies.

“He’s been published,” Traverso enters the fray. “I don’t have [a copy] on me. I left them in my other pair of pants. But it’s inspirational.”

Watching them interact, the bonds between the three are obvious. Now they have just one more game left in their football careers, a concept they say hasn’t yet sunk in. But they know that the O-linemen traditions live on past them, and they have done their part to leave their imprint on the program.

On the field, they’ve propelled Harvard through its injuries to No. 1 in the Ivies with 218.4 yards rushing per game this season, up from 164 yards last year. Off the field, they’ve left enough traditions and tales for several classes to come.

“Maybe we take it for granted when something funny happens because it happens all the time,” Mujalli muses.

“And it probably wouldn’t be funny to other people,” Traverso adds.“People say, ‘Oh you had to be there,’” Mujalli says. “But we say, ‘Oh, you had to be there and be an O-lineman. Concurrently.’”

One lasting memory stems from the team-wide feats of strength competition held each year after winter conditioning. Traverso has gone to extraordinary lengths to win the wrestling competition, called “King of the Mat.”

Two years ago, Traverso coated every inch of his body with Crisco, which performed the dual role of making him too disgusting to touch for most teammates and slippery enough to squeeze out of holds by the ones brave enough for contact. After it took “five showers” to get off the oil, he coated his body with shaving cream last year, and Johnson—inspired by Traverso’s effort the year before—used K-Y jelly.

“I’m sure [Johnson] showered it off more easily,” Mujalli says.

“It’s water-based,” Traverso says quite frankly about the K-Y Jelly. “But I would have cooked up nice afterwards.”

“Naw, you wouldn’t have burned,” Mujalli grins.

“I wouldn’t have stuck either,” Traverso says.

Unsurprisingly, it all comes back to food.

—Staff writer Brenda E. Lee can be reached at belee@fas.harvard.edu.