Shortly after Derrick Harmon was drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he announced that his mom died as he was left reflecting on her legacy.
“I love you 
,” Harmon, 21, wrote via his Instagram Stories on Friday, April 25, sharing a throwback photo of the mother-son pair. He also set his post to Smokie Norful’s “I Need You Now.”
Harmon’s mother, Tiffany Saine, died shortly after he was signed to the Steelers during the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Harmon got to visit Saine in the hospital that night and revealed that he was the 21st overall pick in the Draft. Saine died moments later.
According to Harmon, his mom previously suffered a stroke when he was a student at Michigan State University in 2021. The condition left her paralyzed on her left side, which initially worried Harmon about transferring to the University of Oregon in 2024.
NFL Draft Pick Derrick Harmon’s Mom Dies Just After His 1st Round Selection
“I sat down with my mom and we had a discussion,” he recalled to ESPN in a profile that aired on Thursday. “She told me every decision I made up to this point was for her and it’s time to make a decision for myself.”
When Harmon got the call from the Steelers, he noted that Saine would be excited for him.
“She’s at the hospital right now on life support, so that was a little bittersweet because she worked just as hard as me to get to this moment,” Harmon told reporters on Thursday. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m very excited. After I get off the phone with you guys, I’m going to head straight to the hospital and tell her that her son got drafted.”
According to Harmon, his mom had long been his greatest motivation.
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“After all those brain surgeries, man, she did not give up,” he added during the media call. “She still needed practice, still went to work. Always in the back of my head from the beginning of my college career was, ‘Why can’t I keep going? If I’m tired, injured, whatever it is, why can’t I keep going?’ If she can get up and she can keep going after brain surgeries. She was my inspiration.”
After the media conference, Harmon took to his social media to celebrate his NFL selection.
“This all for you!!!” he wrote via Instagram, sharing a childhood photo. “And I’m do [sic] what you told me I can do a long time ago. I love you till the wheels fall off!!!! 
.”
