Levy Tells Bills He Faces Cancer Surgery : Pro football: Coach will miss three games after prostate operation today in Buffalo.

The Buffalo Bills knew something was wrong the second they saw Marv Levy walk into the locker room Monday and start talking about their victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

And they knew it was serious.

In Levy’s nine-plus years as coach, he has never called a meeting four hours ahead of their usual 1 p.m. schedule. And he has never brought General Manager John Butler and owner Ralph Wilson along to chat about strategy from the previous game.

Levy told the team he has prostate cancer.

“It was a very somber group once the news came out,” center Kent Hull said. “I can’t think of a finer person than Marv Levy, and I just hate that he has to go through this.”

Levy has known for two months that he has cancer and told only Butler and Wilson. Word filtered through the coaching staff last week but did not reach the players until Monday.

Levy will undergo surgery today at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. The Bills, riding a five-game winning streak after beating Seattle, 27-21, on Sunday, are expected to be without him for a three-game road stretch, at New England, Miami and Indianapolis.

“I’ve been coaching 45 years, and I never missed a practice and never missed a game,” Levy said. “It looks as though I’m going to have to. I wanted to wait until the end of the season, but I’ve been advised that while there is low risk, there is not no risk.”

Levy, who has coached Buffalo since 1986, said the cancer was found during a routine physical examination before training camp. The diagnosis was confirmed in August after an examination at Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago.

Doctors said the cancer was found early, increasing his chances for recovery.

Elijah Pitts, the Bills’ assistant head coach, will take over the team while Levy recovers. Levy is expected to be in the hospital for about a week, and he will monitor practices from home on videotape.

Although he appeared nervous, Levy kept his sense of humor when he announced his illness at a news conference. As he did with his players, Levy talked about football first, gave an overview of his immediate future and left without answering questions.

“I’ve requested to have no visitors at the hospital,” Levy said. “Please, no flowers, no cookies, no candy, no pastries, no embroideries, no drawings, no balloons--nothing cute unless I pick her out myself.”