CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Carolina native Hunter Renfrow started to feel like something was wrong during the 2021 Pro Bowl.
Despite experiencing a career year with the Las Vegas Raiders, he said he was battling constant fatigue at the end of the season.
Things escalated when he arrived at fall training camp in 2022.
“I just felt as bad as I could,” Renfrow said. “Really, over the last two years of my Raider career — I was just trying to piece it together. Just trying to make it.”
Renfrow’s diagnosis
Renfrow eventually received a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease that can cause intense inflammation of the bowels.
He said there were moments he considered walking away from the game of football entirely.
“I felt like I’d let my teammates down so much,” Renfrow said. “I was just a dud. I was like ‘Man, I know I don’t feel well, but I do not want to play football again.’”
The Raiders released him following the 2023 season, and he spent all of 2024 getting his health in order before attempting a comeback to the NFL
Renfrow said around March or April of last year, he dropped to 150 pounds and went to the emergency room a few times for treatment.
But after receiving a new treatment, he said he started to feel better for the first time in years. That’s when he was able to wrap his mind around a return to football.
In the meantime, he enjoyed the free time that came from a break from the game.
“It was awesome,” Renfrow said. “It’s good to reset sometimes, and kind of get healthy … I got to spend a lot of time with my two daughters — spent a lot of time with my wife.”
A year away from football
During his year off, Renfrow said he bought into a company called ESS Industrial as head of the business development department.
The company, located in Woodruff, South Carolina, specializes in large-scale recycling and is about an hour and a half away from Charlotte.
“It was cool because I was part of a team,” Renfrow said. “Even though it was not a locker room, you still get guys working for a common goal, you still get competitive juices going.”
Renfrow also attended the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship Pro-Am during his year away from the game.
That’s where he met Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen.
“I remember telling him, ‘If I could ever get back to Carolina, that would be a dream for me,’” Renfrow said.