PITTSBURGH — Derrick Harmon has a tattoo on his left arm that reads "ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE."

Tiffany Saine’s left arm gave her trouble ever since her first stroke in 2022. She was paralyzed on that side of her body, needing help from her mother and her partner to do just about anything. Still, she’d call her son Derrick to ask him how practice was going. How was he playing? He’d ask her if she’s drinking plenty of water. Is she trying to move her left leg around?

She’d tell him it hurts. He’d remind her no pain, no gain.

Harmon’s mother lived long enough for the 6-foot-5, 313-pound man she called her baby to be drafted in the first round Thursday by the Pittsburgh Steelers. She died later that night, not long before Harmon headed off to his new home as a key piece of a struggling defensive line.

For Harmon, his living, breathing motivation is now his lasting, lifelong inspiration. She worked hard for him and now he’ll continue to do the same in her honor.

“Man, how resilient she was,” Harmon said Thursday night, reflecting on his mother’s epilepsy complications and later health problems. “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 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 or I’m injured, whatever it is, why can’t I keep going if she can get up and she can keep going?”

Many in Harmon’s support circle back in his hometown Detroit saw how his drive manifested itself in his work. Yes, he was blessed with an enormous frame, broad shoulders, long arms and massive hands to go with quick feet.

But as Harmon grew into his body, his body grew. He was a nightmare for opposing blockers, but a pudgy one. There was some baby fat on him well into his late teens, and when he reported to nearby Michigan State as a freshman, he freely admits he was out of shape. He weighed about 350 pounds.

“He was still explosive, he was still strong, he still had his quickness,” said DeAndre Ulmer, a defensive assistant at Harmon’s high school alma mater Loyola and a personal speed coach. “He didn't lose a step, but he probably gained a couple steps by dropping that weight.”

Just as Ulmer promised him would happen, Harmon benefited greatly from a college strength, conditioning and nutrition program. He didn’t completely have to give up his primary guilty pleasure — vanilla ice cream — but he did have to cut way back. His lifting partner and big brother figure was upperclassman defensive tackle Jacob Slade, who spent all of last year on the Steelers practice squad.

So as a redshirt freshman, Harmon’s game went to another level. Around that time, though, he got the call that his mother passed out and was taken to a local hospital. A mom who hardly ever missed a game was now rarely able to make it to the stadium to watch her son play.

“I’ve watched him just be her rock,” said Ulmer, who was at Harmon’s draft party. “I’ve watched him stand tall through all adversity, just making sure she’s OK mentally, physically, emotionally. He’s always there.”

Last spring, when he transferred from Michigan State to Oregon, Harmon didn’t take lightly the distance it would put between the two of them. She told him every decision he had made to that point was for her, so it was time to make one for himself. But then he came up with an idea to make life just a little easier.

In the summer, Harmon used some of his NIL windfall from Oregon to purchase a wheelchair-accessible van for Tiffany to get around while he was 2,000 miles away. In September, she managed to fly to a Ducks home game. The weekend they played at Michigan, he was able to surprise her with a visit. And when they reached the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, she was there.

“She’s gonna get after me if she feels like I left some plays out there,” Harmon said at the combine. “She’s gonna call my phone if I left some plays out there, to this day, so a lot of love for ‘mom dukes.’ That’s my ‘why’ right there.”

Ulmer always asks his high school players about their “why,” and Harmon is far from the only one to say it’s his mother or his family. But Ulmer noticed that with him, it was different than most kids.

Even at 15, Harmon was telling Ulmer he wants to succeed in football to make her proud, change their lives, get her the help she needs. A lot of days, Harmon would be a goofy, silly kid. Other days, he was quiet and withdrawn, which Ulmer knew meant something was going on at home.

“I’ve watched him just smile and push through all adversity,” Ulmer said Friday morning. “Last night, it was very emotional. It was amazing. But it was kind of one of those moments where he’s very happy, but he knows what’s going on with his mom. He’s thankful. He said a prayer. And he just lived in the moment at that time to take it all in.”

Harmon knew this was his mom’s dream as much as it was his — maybe even more so.

“She worked just as hard as me to get to this moment,” he said.

He told her he’ll get drafted someday and things will get better. For that day to come and Tiffany not be there doesn’t seem fair.

Before the whole crowd had arrived to cheer Harmon, he sat on the couch by himself. Ulmer is confident Harmon was able to put it all in perspective.

“I’m sitting here being celebrated,” Ulmer said, “but at the same time, I know my mom, she’s with me. She may not be here physically, but she’s with me spiritually.”

Harmon was at the team facility Friday, but the Steelers did not have their usual introductory news conference to announce Harmon to the media and present him with a jersey. In a statement, team president Art Rooney II extended condolences to their newest player and his family.

"Though we are excited to select Derrick in the first round of the NFL draft, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the death of his mother, Tiffany Saine," Rooney said. "We will support Derrick and his family however we can as he navigates this period of grief. In times like this, we hope Derrick finds comfort in the love and support from the organization and Steelers fans around the world. Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with Derrick's entire family."

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