Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon (DL15) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

nfl

Success And Tragedy Strikes Together As Steelers’ Derrick Harmon Loses His Mother After Getting Picked 21st Overall

Bittersweet entry into the NFL for Steelers Derrick Harmon

Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon (DL15) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In a heartbreaking turn of events, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Derrick Harmon’s mother passed away shortly after her son was drafted into the NFL. Harmon became the Steelers‘ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft after they selected him 21st overall.

The newly drafted defensive lineman’s mother, Tiffany Saine, was already on life support in a hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Following his selection, Harmon told reporters that he planned on ending this conversation and heading back to the hospital to meet her.

Derrick Harmon’s journey to becoming the 21st overall pick by the Steelers was driven by the strength of his mom Tiffany ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rN4p5TavQq
— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2025

Tiffany Saine’s Past Struggles

The 21-year-old, Detroit native, played three years of his college football at Michigan State so he could remain close to his mother. Saine had previously undergone about 8 brain surgeries and in 2021, during Harmon’s freshman year at college, she suffered a stroke, leaving the left side of her body paralyzed.

While speaking with the media, Harmon spoke about how his mother’s journey inspired him on his path to become resilient and to never give up.

“I grew up with her having probably 7-8 brain surgeries, and after all those brain surgeries, man, she did not give up. She was still at practice, she still went to work, and I always at the back of my head was why I cannot keep going? I’m tired, I’m injured, whatever it is, why cannot I keep going if she can get up and she can keep going after brain surgeries.”

Following three seasons with Michigan State, Harmon had a discussion with his mother and she told him that all these years he had thought of her and stayed by her side, but now he should think about himself. With that in mind, Harmon decided to transfer to Oregon for the 2024 season despite the difficulty of the decision.

2025 nfl draft

derrick harmon

derrick harmon mother

NFL

nfl draft

Pittsburgh Steelers

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!