First round: Harmon's NFL dream not the same without mom
With the 21st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers have fortified the trenches by taking Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.
From the beginning of the draft process, the Steelers wanted to address the defensive line. This was a great class of defensive tackles, and they weren't about to let one of their main targets go, despite any temptation to trade back from the 21st-overall pick.
"He has Steeler DNA," Mike Tomlin said. "For us, it starts inside and up front, and this is a guy who is capable of dominating that space versus the run and the pass. We're really excited about having him."
The Steelers are getting one of the best defensive tackles in this draft class. He has great size at 6-5 and 313 pounds with long, 34 3/8-inch arms, and he ran 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. Plus, Cam Heyward is one of the players he's modeled his game after throughout his college career at Michigan State, then Oregon last year.
"That was my first thought process when I got the call," Harmon said in a phone call with the media tonight. "I’m going to be able to pick Cam’s brain, be under his wing. That could be my vet now and I can really learn from him because he's been doing this forever, since I was a baby. No other way I want it."
That call typically comes with an immense amount of elation and joy. There's no way to measure all of the hard work these players put into getting that phone call. And, surrounded by family and friends at his draft party in Farmington Hills, Mich., you can see that based on his reaction:
Derrick Harmon was in shock after getting drafted No. 21 overall by the Steelers 🥹 pic.twitter.com/l1YIKpO8Bt
"It was a little bittersweet -- my mom wasn't with me," Harmon said. "She's at the hospital right now on life support, so that was a little bittersweet man, because she worked as hard, just for me to get to this moment, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So, like I said, I'm very excited."
Harmon said while he was growing up, his mother, Tiffany Saine, had to have about eight different brain surgeries. While he was a freshman at Michigan State, she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. After having to make the very tough decision to transfer to Oregon, she was his inspiration to make it worth the pain of moving more than 2,000 miles away.
"After all those brain surgeries, man, she did not give up," Harmon said. "She still took me to practice, still went to work. And I always, in back on my head from the beginning of my college career, was 'why can't I keep going if I'm tired, I'm injured, whatever it is, why can't I keep going if she can get up and she can keep going after brain surgeries?' Just her resilience and her hard work."
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
Harmon wasn't alone to celebrate tonight. He had the support of his father and many other family members and friends on a life-changing day. His dream of becoming an NFL player was coming true.
"My village is big," Harmon said. "I couldn’t get to this point without my village at all. So I have a big village. The thing going on with my mom, her village came out and my village came out and we had a big party. I’m very blessed."
Harmon didn't have to share what he did tonight. Stuff like that can be left private. But, the willingness to share such a delicate, personal story speaks to the type of character this guy has. That's one thing that made Harmon so attractive to the Steelers. Yes, the football talent, size, length -- it's all necessary. But, intangibles still matter.
"His intangible qualities are very attractive," Tomlin said. "The tangible things are obvious, but we were equally as impressed with his intangible quality, his intelligence, his relationship with the game, his natural leadership qualities."
With his dream now come true, once all the phone calls were done, Harmon couldn't wait to share the news with his biggest fan.
"After I get off the phone with you guys," he said, "I'm headed straight to the hospital to tell her [that her] son got drafted."
INSTAGRAM: @DERRICK55__
For more on Harmon, the football player, here's my draft profile on him.
THE ASYLUM
First round: Harmon's NFL dream not the same without mom
With the 21st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers have fortified the trenches by taking Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.
From the beginning of the draft process, the Steelers wanted to address the defensive line. This was a great class of defensive tackles, and they weren't about to let one of their main targets go, despite any temptation to trade back from the 21st-overall pick.
"He has Steeler DNA," Mike Tomlin said. "For us, it starts inside and up front, and this is a guy who is capable of dominating that space versus the run and the pass. We're really excited about having him."
The Steelers are getting one of the best defensive tackles in this draft class. He has great size at 6-5 and 313 pounds with long, 34 3/8-inch arms, and he ran 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. Plus, Cam Heyward is one of the players he's modeled his game after throughout his college career at Michigan State, then Oregon last year.
"That was my first thought process when I got the call," Harmon said in a phone call with the media tonight. "I’m going to be able to pick Cam’s brain, be under his wing. That could be my vet now and I can really learn from him because he's been doing this forever, since I was a baby. No other way I want it."
That call typically comes with an immense amount of elation and joy. There's no way to measure all of the hard work these players put into getting that phone call. And, surrounded by family and friends at his draft party in Farmington Hills, Mich., you can see that based on his reaction:
But there's more than meets the eye here.
"It was a little bittersweet -- my mom wasn't with me," Harmon said. "She's at the hospital right now on life support, so that was a little bittersweet man, because she worked as hard, just for me to get to this moment, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So, like I said, I'm very excited."
Harmon said while he was growing up, his mother, Tiffany Saine, had to have about eight different brain surgeries. While he was a freshman at Michigan State, she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. After having to make the very tough decision to transfer to Oregon, she was his inspiration to make it worth the pain of moving more than 2,000 miles away.
"After all those brain surgeries, man, she did not give up," Harmon said. "She still took me to practice, still went to work. And I always, in back on my head from the beginning of my college career, was 'why can't I keep going if I'm tired, I'm injured, whatever it is, why can't I keep going if she can get up and she can keep going after brain surgeries?' Just her resilience and her hard work."
Harmon wasn't alone to celebrate tonight. He had the support of his father and many other family members and friends on a life-changing day. His dream of becoming an NFL player was coming true.
"My village is big," Harmon said. "I couldn’t get to this point without my village at all. So I have a big village. The thing going on with my mom, her village came out and my village came out and we had a big party. I’m very blessed."
Harmon didn't have to share what he did tonight. Stuff like that can be left private. But, the willingness to share such a delicate, personal story speaks to the type of character this guy has. That's one thing that made Harmon so attractive to the Steelers. Yes, the football talent, size, length -- it's all necessary. But, intangibles still matter.
"His intangible qualities are very attractive," Tomlin said. "The tangible things are obvious, but we were equally as impressed with his intangible quality, his intelligence, his relationship with the game, his natural leadership qualities."
With his dream now come true, once all the phone calls were done, Harmon couldn't wait to share the news with his biggest fan.
"After I get off the phone with you guys," he said, "I'm headed straight to the hospital to tell her [that her] son got drafted."
INSTAGRAM: @DERRICK55__
For more on Harmon, the football player, here's my draft profile on him.
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