The day after the Steelers selected him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft two weeks ago, Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon came to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex as the team's top draft picks always do the day after being selected.
The difference was that Harmon was there just hours after the death of his mother, Tiffany Saine.
Harmon didn't do the media interviews and many of the other ancillary things that go along with being the first-round draft pick of the Steelers, but he insisted on showing up in Pittsburgh to meet his new employers.
Harmon said Friday as the team kicked off its rookie minicamp that response to one of life's toughest circumstances is just natural to him.
"You've got to have some grit to be in this organization," Harmon said. "You've got to have a little bit of an edge to you. You've got to play with a little bit of pride, and I feel like that is me."
The 21-year-old was one of 45 players who worked out on Friday with the Steelers' coaching staff, a group that included all seven of the team's draft picks, eight undrafted rookie free agents signed after the draft, five veteran players and 25 players attending the three-day camp on a tryout basis.
The group is getting a lot of new things thrown at it to see who can handle the information and who cannot.
Having a new playbook thrown at him as is happening to the Steelers' rookie class is nothing new for Harmon. He went through the same thing a year ago at this time at Oregon.
After spending the first three years of his college career at Michigan State, Harmon was a late portal transfer to Oregon, leaving only after getting the blessing from his mother.
That meant Harmon had to get up to speed quickly not only learning the playbook, but his new teammates halfway across the country.
All Harmon did was play over 600 snaps in 14 games – an average of 44 per game – learning all Power 4 defensive tackles with 55 pressures to go along with 45 tackles, including 11 for a loss, five sacks, four batted passes and two fumbles forced and recovered.
"I'm coming from Oregon and they throw everything at us," Harmon said. "I was in the NFL at Oregon, and I feel like I'm right here. They prepare us at Oregon very well."
But few things prepare anyone for the loss of a parent.
And that's something with which Harmon is still dealing.
"I'm doing the best I can right now," Harmon said. "I'm in football mode. I'm in my element. I've got my mind on a few things, but I'll be OK."
In that regard, getting back onto the football field might help Harmon take his mind off his loss as he continues to process things.
"I'm still dealing with it," Harmon said. "I don't know, I'm putting one foot in front of the other, really."
He and the rest of the players in attendance here this weekend are doing the same thing on the football field.
While the Cam Heywards and T.J. Watt's of the world aren't in attendance at these sessions, for most of the group, it's their first taste of professional football and what is expected of them.
It doesn't hurt that Harmon, the first defensive lineman taken by the Steelers in the first round of the draft since they selected Heyward in 2011, has someone with which to go through the journey with him. The Steelers also selected Iowa defensive lineman Yahya Black in the fifth round of the draft.
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He seems to have the right mindset.
"We have to set (the tone) early," Harmon said. "This is a totally different league from what I'm used to and what Black is used to. We have to come in and dominate. That is what we have to do."
Harmon will join a defensive line that includes Heyward, Keeanu Benton, whom his locker in the locker room is next to, and then some question marks following the release of starter Larry Ogunjobi at the start of the free agent period.
Harmon knows there are expectations that go along with being a first-round pick. He's ready to shoulder those, just like he's shouldered the loss of his mother - with a mature approach.
"Whatever role they give me, I will play the role to the best of my ability," he said. "Whether it's being a rookie and sitting on the sideline or starting Day 1, I'm here to play my role and do it to the best of my ability."
