Blame ‘Bluey’? How Hunter Renfrow’s Daughters Delayed His Panthers Reunion

Parents everywhere can relate to what Hunter Renfrow went through last week.

Renfrow was released by the Panthers last week, but Carolina eventually decided it wanted to bring the veteran wide receiver back after a key injury and trade. The Panthers decision-makers, though, had some trouble getting in touch with Renfrow because of his daughters.

Renfrow told reporters on Monday that he missed “10” calls from either his agent, head coach Dave Canales or general manager Dan Morgan last Thursday while his daughters were in the car (he noted that he was right outside the car). 

Why couldn’t anyone get in touch with him? Because his daughter was watching “Bluey” on his phone and kept rejecting the calls.

Eventually, Renfrow got in touch with the right people before beginning his decision-making process. 

“Just made sure that this is what I wanted to do, that this is where I wanted to be, which I was pretty sure of, but I just wanted a couple of days to kind of make sure,” Renfrow told reporters on Monday in Charlotte.

Renfrow was released last week as part of the Panthers’ final cuts to their 53-man roster. A lot happened between then and the team re-signing him in the Carolina receivers room, though. 

Second-year receiver Jalen Coker is going to miss at least the first six games of the season with a quad injury, and veteran Adam Thielen was traded to the Vikings last week. First-round rookie Tetiora McMillan is poised for a big role as quarterback Bryce Young’s go-to pass catcher, but the depth chart is uncertain behind him.

Renfrow is a former Pro Bowl receiver who caught 103 passes back in 2021 for the Raiders. He was cut by Las Vegas during training camp last year and did not play in 2024. He’ll likely feature predominantly in the slot as a potential safety valve for Young.

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