
By Michaela Gordoni
Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver Hunter Renfrow wants to honor God in his NFL comeback after a bout with an autoimmune disease.
Last year, Renfrow lost thirty-five pounds and had 103 degree fevers for a week straight while he struggled with ulcerative colitis. He’d already been battling the disease for a couple of years. The Raiders let him go after his two-year $32 million extension ran out, Sports Spectrum reported.
“I’m done, I’m done. I’m not going to play anymore,” Renfrow told his head coach at Clemson, Dabo Swinney.
Swinney 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 caught the game-winning touchdown within the last second of the 2016 national championship game against Alabama, and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2021 after getting103 catches for 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns.
Renfrow’s faith is very important to him, and he talks to God throughout his games.
“I am always talking to God throughout the game. I prayed a lot before the game and during the game,” he recalled about championship college game against Alabama. “When I lined up, I knew it was in God’s control that whatever His plan for this play was better than mine; whether I dropped it or I caught it, it was not going to define me as a person. Hopefully, by catching it, it would bring glory to Him.”
After the Pro Bowl, he began to feel “weird” and “tired. He was diagnosed during the 2022 offseason with the Raiders. He struggled until he was released last year in March.
Related: 13-Year NFL Vet Keeps Playing Football for This God-Glorifying Reason
He got treatment and felt better by July. His weight went from 150 in March to 200 in September. Now, he’s playing for the Panthers.
“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.”
“I’ve definitely gotten asked to speak at a lot more churches,” Renfrow said before he joined the NFL again. “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,” he said. “When we forget that and try to do it on our own, He corrects us really quick.”
Swinney recently shared his happiness that Renfrow is back on the field again, “I’m just pulling for him. He’s having fun again. He’s 29 and so I’m just happy that he’s back out here.”
“If he stays healthy, he’ll do what Renfrow does. That’s just who he is,” he added.
As Renfrow starts his first season with the Panthers, he’s focused on more than performance. He hopes to reflect God in his actions.
Read Next: Cam Newton Helps Panthers Defeat Cardinals in Return to NFL: ‘This Is All God’s Work’
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.