-
Brooke Pryor
Pittsburgh – Tiffany healthy, Pittsburgh Steelers’ mother in the first round Derrick Harmon, died Thursday evening shortly after his son was selected in the NFL draft.
Healthy, which underwent a stroke in 2022 which left him paralyzed on his left side, was on life support in the hospital while Harmon learned his future of the NFL surrounded by the rest of his family in his hometown of Detroit.
“On behalf of the whole organization of Pittsburgh steelers, I present our greatest condolences to Derrick Harmon and his family in this difficult period,” the president of the Steelers, Art Rooney II, in a statement on Friday.
“Although we are delighted to select Derrick during the first round of the NFL draft, our hearts are heavy while we mourn the death of his mother, Tiffany healthy. We will support Derrick and his family as we can sail in this period of sorrow. In moments like this, we hope that Derrick will find comfort and support for Steelers in the world.
“Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with the whole derrick family.”
Harmon told journalists that he left his party to go see his mother in the hospital on Thursday evening.
“It was a little soft-man, guy,” said Harmon on Thursday about the moment he received the call from the Steelers. “My mother was not with me, she is at the hospital right now on the support of life, so it was a little soft-man, because she worked as hard as I am to arrive at this moment.”
Before the pink Bowl in December, Harmon shared that he had used part of his zero money to buy his mother a truck accessible in a wheelchair. Harmon, from Detroit, spent the first three years of his career in the state of Michigan to be close to his mother before making the decision difficult to transfer to Oregon for his senior season.
Harmon said Thursday evening that he had learned of his mother’s resilience when he watched her undergo several brain surgeries before the stroke.
“After all these brain surgeries, man, she did not give up,” said Harmon. “She has always taken me to train, has always been to work, and I have always always, in the back of my head since the start of my university career, why can’t I continue?”
“If I am tired, I am injured, whatever, why can’t I continue if it can get up and continue after brain surgery.”
