He defied the odds at Clemson. How Hunter Renfrow now plans to convince people in the NFL
Hunter Renfrow is ready to defy the odds again.
Having completed an improbable award-winning and record-setting career at Clemson that included two national football championships as a walk-on out of Socastee High School, Renfrow now has some convincing to do in the NFL.
The 5-foot-10, 184-pound receiver finished last or near last at his position in many of the body measurement and skill categories at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March.
But the fifth-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders obviously has something intrinsic that breeds success and can’t be documented or measured.
“I don’t think I overachieve. The media and everyone else thinks I overachieve. I’m just doing what I’ve always tried to do,” Renfrow said Monday. “. . . The excitement factor comes in where you want to go prove yourself again, you want to earn it again. That just happens day by day.”
He’ll have an opportunity to prove he belongs in the NFL beginning July 23 when he reports to the Raiders preseason training camp, which will be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
Renfrow signed a four-year contract that is standard for drafted rookies worth more than $2.8 million, with $316,000 guaranteed. But he is not guaranteed a spot on the Raiders despite being drafted. He will have to earn that in the preseason, and he plans to be successful in the NFL the same way he was in college.
“Just having a genuine appreciation for the game, having fun, enjoying what I do, not just going out there to collect a paycheck or going out there to punch a clock, but really investing in my teammates and having fun,” Renfrow said. “If I can do that then I feel like I’ll have a good time out in Oakland.”
Renfrow was back at Socastee High on Monday afternoon for his inaugural football camp for children ages 6-16, followed by a three-hour autograph signing session and unveiling of a monument at the football field in his honor that was funded by community members.
“It has kind of come full circle for me because I grew up going to Socastee High School football camp on those same fields, and a lot of those coaches that were helping coach today coached me and taught me everything I know about football and life,” said Renfrow, whose father Tim is Socastee’s athletics director and former head football coach. “So it was cool to be able to kind of pass that on.”
Monday was one of the few times Renfrow has been at home in Myrtle Beach this year.
In the past six months, he helped Clemson win its second national championship in three years, married high school sweetheart Camilla Martin, prepared for and participated in the combine, was drafted, and spent about six weeks in Oakland beginning in early May for a rookie minicamp and full-team minicamp. He also found a townhome in Oakland to rent.
“It has been a whirlwind,” Renfrow said. “It’s been the time of my life though. I’ve gotten to experience things that I would never have gotten to experience if it wasn’t for football. . . . There hasn’t been a lot of normalcy. It’s one thing after the other but it’s going to be good to get to Oakland and call that home for five months and then move to Las Vegas [when the team relocates].”
In his four-year career at Clemson, Renfrow recorded 186 receptions for 2,133 yards and 15 touchdowns – four TDs coming in the three national title games he played in, including the game-winner against Alabama in 2017.
He won the Burlsworth Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding college football player who was a former walk on, and Bobby Bowden Award as the Division I player who epitomizes dedication to faith, family, friends and football.
He set Clemson records for most starts by a wide receiver (47) and most consecutive games with a catch (43), and holds College Football Playoff Records with 37 receptions and four touchdowns in seven playoff games.
At the combine, Renfrow was the only receiver whose hands measured less than eight inches (7 7/8) and was one of only two whose arms measured less than 30 inches (29 1/4). He was among the lightest receivers at 184 pounds, and only six receivers ran slower than his 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash. His seven repetitions on the 225-pound bench press were the second-fewest of any player at any position.
He did, however, finish third among receivers in the three-cone shuttle drill, and his production at Clemson attracted the Raiders before another team selected him.
“I just prayed God would put me in a situation where he wanted me and he feels I can be successful, and I feel that is Oakland,” Renfrow said.
The projected slot receiver had more than a dozen practices at the minicamps and has been learning the playbook of Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson and head coach Jon Gruden, who is primarily an offensive coach.
“He’s one of the smartest offensive coaches in the game so it’s going to be fun to be able to learn from him and learn from [quarterback] Derek Carr and [veteran receivers] Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams and those guys,” Renfrow said. “I’m really just excited.”
He has noticed many similarities and a marked difference between the coaching styles of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Gruden, who coached him in the Senior Bowl in January.
“There’s a lot more cussing with coach Gruden,” Renfrow said. “But sometimes you need to be yelled at a little more. Coach Swinney would chew you out. I haven’t spent a full season with him so there’s a lot that I have to learn, but they’re very similar in that they know what it takes to win and they really care about their players.”
Renfrow has already spent some time off the field with Carr. They have played basketball and billiards and plan to play a round of golf in the near future.
“He’s a great guy, similar to what we had at Clemson, just a guy who you want to be successful for, you want to play for,” Renfrow said. “That’s just the type of person he is, someone the whole team is going to get around and hopefully have a great year.”
The Raiders took two of Renfrow’s Clemson teammates in the draft – defensive tackle Clelin Ferrell with the No. 4 pick and defensive back Trayvon Mullen with the 40th pick.
“It’s cool to have my wife out there as well as the Clemson guys to kind of have a little taste of home all the way out on the west coast,” Renfrow said. “It’s been cool because I have confidence that those guys know what it takes, and the ultimate goal is to win.”
Renfrow will try to add muscle and bulk to his frame for the season and particularly next offseason. “I’m excited to have a full offseason this next season because that’s one thing I know I need to do, I need to get a little stronger and a little more durable,” Renfrow said, “but one day at a time, one year at a time I guess.”
Renfrow is excited but also unsure of what’s to come in his NFL career.
“There’s always fear when you’re doing something new. There’s always fear of the unknown,” he said. “. . . When we were at Socastee we won some games, when we were at Clemson we won some games, so hopefully in Oakland we’ll have the same thing and have the same amount of success, so it will be a lot of fun.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2019 at 11:53 PM.
