Buffalo Bills, fans to honor Pancho Billa this weekend

The weekend of the Buffalo Bills’ home opener, the team and fans will rally around one very special superfan who passed away this past spring after a battle with cancer. Pancho Billa, the masked fan who announced the pick of Harrison Phillips at the 2018 NFL Draft, will be remembered in ceremonies all weekend.

Kicking things off is a fan-run tailgate at Hammer’s Lot, near New Era Field, on Saturday. Ezra Castro’s family will be in attendance while the celebration of life runs from 2 to 6 PM. The lot opens at noon.

On Sunday, the team is hosting Castro’s family in a pre-game ceremony. Get in your seats by 12:40 if you’d like to see them honored with game balls presented by team owner Kim Pegula. The team is also bringing underprivileged kids to the field to present them with backpacks.

In June, volunteers from the team and fan communities packed $100,000 worth of donated schools supplies into 10,000 backpacks for distribution in Western New York and Castro’s home state of Texas. This pre-game ceremony will honor the special gift the Pacho Pack program was able to provide.

This week, Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins passed out Pancho Billa socks to his teammates. You can purchase yours here to benefit Castro’s family.

You can still donate to the Pancho Power fundraiser on Go Fund Me and pre-order his children’s book here.