Hunter Renfrow’s 2025 comeback is meaningful beyond a homecoming with the team he grew up rooting for.
The Carolina Panthers signed Renfrow, originally from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to a one-year deal on Sunday. The 29-year-old receiver joins the Panthers after sitting out all of last season with the Las Vegas Raiders due to what he has now revealed as an autoimmune disease that caused significant weight loss, fatigue and high fevers.
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“It kicked my butt pretty good,” Renfrow told Panthers.com. “Last year, I fluctuated in weight; I went down to 150 pounds. I had like seven straight days of 103-degree fevers. It’s tough to play when you’re not feeling great.”
Renfrow’s ulcerative colitis diagnosis pulled him away from the physicality he had shown in his first five NFL seasons, including a Pro Bowl campaign in 2021. A proven competitor — Renfrow walked on at Clemson in 2014 and won two College Football Playoff championships with the Tigers — his energy was drained.
Renfrow and his wife welcomed their second daughter in his year away from football. He eyed a comeback, but wanted to ensure he could be “all in” upon his return.
“It’s a weird feeling. It makes you grateful for the times that you do feel good,” Renfrow said. “It makes you grateful for the opportunities that you’ve had, and when you feel like you’ve been blessed with some skill to go out there and perform, it makes you not want to waste the opportunity that you have. And that was one of the reasons why I wanted to come back and play.”
Highlights from the hometown kid pic.twitter.com/nprz6KlRdA
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) April 29, 2025
After consulting with doctors to control his condition, Renfrow is working his way back to the gridiron. He’s back to around 185 pounds and reported to Bank of America Stadium to train with the Panthers on Monday.
Carolina added a pair of receivers in last week’s draft in Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan (first round) and Colorado’s Jimmy Horn Jr. (fifth round). There’s also former first-rounder Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker and veterans Adam Thielen and David Moore in the receiving mix.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to come back, my thought process was, I want to really enjoy the time with the receivers and time with the team and time with my teammates and just be the best teammate I can,” Renfrow said.
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“I want to be real intentional about that and try to lock in and get in with the guys and have a good time and just be a resource any way I can.”
The 2019 fifth-round pick has racked up 269 catches, 2,884 yards and 17 touchdowns across 73 games, highlighted by his Pro Bowl season in 2021 when he set career highs in targets (128), receptions (103), receiving yards (1,038) and touchdowns (9).
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
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