Many famous faces made their way to Nashville for the NFL Draft, but one face Bills fans expected to see couldn’t make the trip.
Pancho Billa has been fighting stage four cancer for the last 18 months. He announced Thursday that he was entering hospice care, just hours before the Bills selected their first pick.
He still had the opportunity to be involved in the big moment: he got to call in the team’s first round selection from his hospital bed.
Pancho, who’s real name is Ezra Castro, said he’ll be entering hospice care for the cancer that began with a mass around his spine and spread into other organs, including his liver and lungs.
Although he originally planned to make the trip to Nashville, he had to cancel those plans because he's too sick.
Instead, the team left a chair empty at Thursday's draft , decorating it with a costume that looks like Pancho's.
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane still made sure he played a part.
He helped facilitate a three-way call so Pancho could help select Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the ninth pick overall.
Pancho is hospitalized at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center but he just wants the Bills Mafia to keep praying and to know how thankful he is.