One of the coolest parts of the NFL Draft every year is seeing how parents and family members react to their sons, nephews, and brothers getting selected. It's always a special moment and if we're lucky, it gets captured for all to enjoy their happiness. For former Spartan Derrick Harmon, getting selected and being able to tell his mom was extra special.
Harmon's mother, who was on life support, got the news from Harmon shortly after he was drafted No. 21 overall by the Steelers on Thursday night and it seemed like that's all she needed to hear.
On Friday, it was reported that she passed away shortly after Harmon got to tell her the news.
Derrick Harmon’s mom, who was on life support, passed away shortly after he went to the hospital and got to tell her he had been drafted by the Steelers.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) April 25, 2025
This news is especially painful when you realize that Harmon called getting drafted in the first round on Thursday "bittersweet", per Yahoo! Sports, because his mom couldn't be there with him.
According to Harmon, his mother had been fighting after multiple brain surgeries throughout her life and the latest one had her on life support. He said that her fight was what inspired him to keep going but it sounded like she held on just long enough to live through her son getting drafted in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Michigan State fans loved Harmon when he was in East Lansing and it couldn't have been easy for him to move across the country away from home in Michigan to play his final season of college ball.
This story really just goes to show that these guys go through so much that we don't see off the field and they somehow keep going. Obviously we all wish Harmon finished his career at Michigan State, but this is the type of story that's going to make it easy to root for him in the NFL.