The most heartbreaking moment from the NFL Draft: “She’s the reason that I’m here”

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon 21st overall. Unfortunately, that euphoric moment for Harmon was followed by tragedy as he lost his mother shortly after.

How did Derrick Harmon’s mother die?

What made the moment beautiful, however, is that Harmon was able to tell his mother, Tiffany Saine, that he was drafted into the NFL to play for the Steelers before she passed away.

Harmon has previously spoken about his mother’s health issues. He shared that she’d had several brain surgeries throughout his life. During his freshman year of college at Michigan State, Saine suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side.

I’m not sure what kind of player Derrick Harmon will be. But I know this: there might not be a better human in the draft. The way he’s supported his mother’s health issues is incredible. First class kid. pic.twitter.com/upK8GBhDUn

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) April 25, 2025

With all that was going on with his mother, it was not an easy decision for Harmon to transfer to Oregon after the 2023 season, as Michigan was just 45 minutes from his home. But his mother encouraged him to do sotelling him to think of himself for once.

“I sat down with my mom and we had a discussion,” said Harmon. “She told me that every decision I made up to this point was for her, and it was time to make a decision for myself. I carried that throughout the whole process of going the whole 2,000 miles all the way to Oregon. She’s the reason why I’m here. She’s the one that did everything for me to get to this point. … I’m forever grateful.”

Harmon spent much of his young life caring for his mom, and used his NIL money to purchase an accessible van for her. After he was drafted on Thursday, he spoke about how strong his mother was and how she affected him in his journey to the NFL.

“Man, how resilient she was,” Harmon said. “Just growing up, from my standpoint, my situation, I grew up with her having probably seven, eight brain surgeries. And after all those brain surgeries, she did not give up. She still took me to practice, still went to work. And I always, always got in the back of my head, from the beginning of my college career, was, why can I keep going if I’m tired, I’m injured, whatever it is, why can I keep going. If she can get up and she can keep going after brain surgery. So, just her resilience, and hard work.”

After he was selected in the draft, Harmon headed straight to the hospital where his mother was on life support to tell her the news. She passed away less than 24 hours later.

“She was my inspiration,” said Harmon.