Twin NFL brothers on Jesus

Hunter Renfrow was ready to walk away from football.

The former Clemson star and Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver sat out the 2024 season while battling the autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis. For a week straight, he suffered 103-degree fevers, and dropped from 185 pounds to 150. This came after two seasons of dwindling production while the disease wrecked his body. The Raiders, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, released him after his two-year, $32 million extension ran out.

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“I’m done, I’m done. I’m not going to play anymore,” Renfrow reportedly told Dabo Swinney, his head coach at Clemson, according to ESPN.

It was Swinney who ultimately convinced Renfrow to keep playing.

“He said, ‘Why would you not [play]? You have the opportunity of a lifetime,’” Renfrow told ESPN. “That’s part of what makes him special. Pushing to get the best out of people, just believing in you even when you don’t believe in yourself.”

Renfrow’s route running is a thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/O3Yz1YBp5d

— Michael Bell (@avl_mike) July 26, 2025

Despite being undersized, Renfrow has made a name by making big plays. He caught the game-winning touchdown with one second left in the 2016 national championship game against Alabama, and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2021 after hauling in a career-high 103 catches for 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns.

He said he felt “weird” during that season, then felt “kind of tired” following the Pro Bowl. Not long after inking the extension with the Raiders during the 2022 offseason, Renfrow showed up to training camp feeling “as bad as I could.” He was later diagnosed with the chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the large intestine and rectum.

Renfrow’s production declined sharply over the next two seasons. After catching just 36 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns in 2022, he managed only 25 receptions for 255 yards and no touchdowns in 2023 before being released in March 2024.

He dropped to 150 pounds in March and April 2024 and had to make several trips to the emergency room due to extreme inflammation, ESPN reported. After treatment, he began feeling better by July and got his weight up to 200 pounds by September once he was finally able to eat normally again.

Swinney described Renfrow as a fierce competitor, whether it’s in football or just for fun. So seeing that competitive spirit evaporate from a guy who went from being a walk-on to a Pro Bowler “was sad for me,” he told ESPN.

“He just got in a place where he kind of lost his joy,” Swinney said. “He’s always played for the love of the game, but it all stems from being healthy. So, it’s been awesome to kind of see him find that again.”

Renfrow with the snag of the day.

Filmed by: @charlottevibe pic.twitter.com/kG0CvO7GC9

— Michael Bell (@avl_mike) July 23, 2025

If he was to return to playing, Renfrow only wanted to play for one team — the Carolina Panthers. He grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as a Panthers fan, so there was that aspect. But he told his agent that they also fit what he was looking for from a football perspective. The 29-year-old becomes another weapon for quarterback Bryce Young, the former Heisman Trophy winner and 2023 No. 1 pick.

From earning a scholarship as a walk-on, to playing during the pandemic, to now overcoming health issues, Renfrow has faced his share of trials during his football career. In 2021, he said he finds his peace in Christ when life feels uncertain around him.

“We’re trying to win every game but at the end of the day, that’s ultimately what matters, what your relationship is with Christ,” he told Raider Maven, adding, “Whenever football is long and gone and 100 years from now, [God will] still be there and that’s kind of driven me.”

Renfrow says in his Instagram bio, “There is only One and He took our place. Jesus is King!” In his X  bio, Renfrow says, “I dont Know what my Future Holds, But I know who holds my Future #JesusIsKing.”

He hopes he’ll have more moments ahead of him like he did in the 2016 national championship and the 2021 Pro Bowl, but he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2017 that his faith allows him to keep it all in perspective.

“There’s never really a moment too big or too small because Jesus is always going to be there,” Renfrow said on the podcast.

When he was considering retirement, he told ESPN that he truly felt it was time to quit playing and “go over here in my corner, do what I do, get into business.” God can use him regardless of his vocation — or whether he’s healthy or not — but Renfrow told Sports Spectrum he recognized the bigger platform afforded to him after his national championship run. The same can be said while he’s still playing on Sundays in the NFL.

“I’ve definitely gotten asked to speak at a lot more churches,” Renfrow said at the time. “But I’m just trying to be that positive light. I’ve never really been a real vocal guy. Just how I carry myself and my actions, just try to reflect the Lord because life is about Him. When we forget that and try to do it on our own, He corrects us really quick.”

He added later, “God is teaching me to use my platform and to be available — available for God and be used however He wants me.”

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