Hunter Renfrow sat out last season in part because of a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, which left him with weight loss to 150 pounds, fatigue and high fever. The wide receiver spent a year consulting with doctors and getting the condition under control.
He signed with the Panthers in the offseason and is ready for a return to being the receiver he was in his only Pro Bowl season.
“Honestly, this is the best I’ve felt since probably 2021, by far,” Renfrow said, via Darin Gantt of the team website. “Really, the last three years, I struggled my last two with the Raiders, and last year just struggled with fatigue, but this is by far the best I’ve felt since 2021. It’s like anything: Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just taking it day by day, stacking good days and telling yourself, even though you don’t feel great, that it will get better. Just keep pushing through, putting one step in front of the other kind of mentality. And I feel like I’ve done that and every day I’ve felt better and better and better and better. I’m still not exactly 100 percent where I want to be, but I feel a lot better.”
Renfrow has changed his diet, eating more rice, chicken and steamed vegetables while cutting out processed foods, fried foods and sugar.
“My last two years in Vegas, I feel like one day a month I felt decent, while the other 29 I felt bad,” Renfrow said. “Now I feel like there’s one day a month I don’t feel good and the other 29 feel good. So it’s kind of flipped the script. It all stems from what I put in my body, how I feel it, and I’ve just been excited about how I felt.”
In five seasons, Renfrow has 269 receptions for 2,884 yards and 17 touchdowns.
