Hunter Renfrow Originally Had No Interest In Playing for Raiders

Former Clemson wideout Hunter Renfrow was recently a guest on The Players Club Podcast with Darien Rencher and told the story of how he originally had no interest in playing for the Raiders.

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Hunter Renfrow always dreamed of playing in the NFL.

After a successful college career that included two national titles, the former Clemson standout was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and his lifelong dream had come to fruition.

"That was a dream come true," Renfrow told Darien Rencher on the latest edition of The Players Club Podcast. "You know, I always dreamed of getting drafted to a team and playing the NFL."

The weeks leading up to the draft were full of uncertainty, though. Renfrow knew there were teams that liked him but had no idea where he was going, or if he would even be drafted at all.

"You really don't know, you don't really have an idea," Renfrow said. "You know some teams like you, but you're not certain what's going to happen. So I talked to my agent a little bit about if I'm not drafted, and I'm a free agent, like, where are the places that I want to go? 

Making sure he was prepared for all possibilities, Renfrow and his wife, Camilla, started making a list of teams he'd like to play for, and the teams he had no real interest in. Ironically, the Raiders were at the top of the list of teams he didn't want to play for.

"Where are the places that me and Camilla would feel good about going and signing a free-agent contract and hoping to make the team," Renfrow said. "So I remember going through a list of where I wanted to go. And then I made a list of like, where do I not want to go. And I remember me and Camilla came to a consensus that the Raiders were the number one team we did not want to go to."

Renfrow admittedly didn't know a whole lot about Oakland, and it was so far away from his family in South Carolina. Knowing the Raiders would be moving to Las Vegas in a year made the franchise even less appealing. 

"They were there in Oakland for one year and up until college, I thought Oakland was in like Florida," Renfrow said. "I had no idea where Oakland was. My geography is awful. It's so far away from home. When I found out it was California... taxes. And I was like, 'I don't want to be there.' Then go all the way across the country from my family. And then we're going to Vegas in a year. And you know Sin City, that's the strip, that's craziness. So that's the number one place we did not want to go." 

When Renfrow got the call telling him he'd been drafted by the Raiders, he recalls thinking it was God having a little fun with him. 

"I remember in the moment, they call you and they tell you, you're going to Oakland," Renfrow said. "Once those feelings fade, you start thinking, and I remember thinking like, this is God just laughing at us. Like, we think we have our plans, but we have no idea what's going on. And God was like, 'I'm gonna put you where you don't want to go, just to show you what I want to show you.'"

However, three years into his NFL career, Renfrow could not be happier with where he ended up. In 2021, the wide receiver recorded his first 1,000-yard season, becoming the first Raider to accomplish the feat since 2016. He also made his first appearance in the Pro Bowl after reeling in 103 catches, one shy of the franchise record held by Tim Brown and set in 1997.

"I couldn't be more thankful we ended up here because there's so many good people," Renfrow said. "And so it's been an amazing opportunity. I love the Raiders organization and really the teammates I play with. It's been special."

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