NEWTON, Mass. -- Football can be brutal.

It's an intensely physical game, one increasingly populated by bigger, faster and stronger players.

Succeeding at the highest levels of the game requires an incredible amount of skill and, perhaps, even stronger will. This sport will grind away at muscle, tendon and bone, shake confidence and test perseverance.

It can do all that for a winning team. For a losing team, the burden can feel even heavier.

Boston College is a losing team again this season. And as the losses have mounted, the Eagles have looked for perspective.

"There's so much in life beyond football, and we kind of get wrapped up in our own little bubble here," co-captain Emmett Cleary said. "But it really is about bigger things."

Brutal as it can be, football can also be beautiful.

For 2-8 BC, the beauty of the game this season is in brotherhood -- on and off the field.

"You have a rough practice and you're in the middle of something," Cleary said, "and you see JB over in the end zone rolling around and kicking the ball.

"You can't help but smile."

Little man on campus

The smallest member of the team stands about 42 inches tall and weighs about 42 pounds. He doesn't know what the team's record is, and it wouldn't make a difference if he did.

He is 5 years old and has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive and ultimately fatal muscle disorder. Unless there is a major medical breakthrough in the next few years, he might never make it to college. A wheelchair is likely in his future. He might never be able to play organized sports.

But because of a charity called Team IMPACT, this mop-headed, little blond boy is learning what it means to be part of a team. And not just any team, but a Division I college football team.

Meet JB Harvey, the newest member of the Boston College Eagles.

Light from the dark side

This Halloween, he dressed up as Darth Vader.

JB Harvey, 5, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, went-trick or-treating with some big kids from BC this Halloween. Courtesy of the Harvey family

JB is a "Star Wars" fan, his mom, Elizabeth Harvey, said. "But he only likes the dark side, for some reason," she said.

Bryan Murray, a fifth-year senior defensive lineman, was one of six Eagles who drove out to Dover, Mass., to take their teammate trick-or-treating this year. He laughed when asked whether JB had an explanation for his affinity for the dark side.

"He didn't really have a reason," Murray said. "I know he likes superheroes and villains and stuff."

This off-field involvement is part of the Team Impact program. The idea is to pair kids dealing with life-threatening illnesses with athletic programs so they can experience being part of a team.

So JB goes to Chestnut Hill for practices, walk-throughs and games, and on Oct. 31 some of the players went to help him collect as much candy as possible. They pulled him down the street in a little red wagon because he sometimes has trouble getting around, and they helped him up the steps to the houses.

The Harveys -- Jeff and Elizabeth, daughter Caroline, 7, and JB -- moved to a ranch-style house in Dover about a year ago because JB had trouble going up and down the stairs in their old home.

"We're new to the neighborhood, and we don't know all the neighbors, so it was quite an impression with all the guys," Elizabeth said with a laugh.

There were six of them in all. There was the 6-foot-2, 299-pound Murray, along with Brian Miller (6-4, 232), Jim Noel (6-4, 200), Sean Duggan (6-4, 228), Sean Sylvia (6-foot, 210) and Dave Shinskie (6-4, 209).

Sylvia and Duggan wore Captain America masks. Shinskie and Murray came in their football gear.