Sam steps away from pro football

MONTREAL — Michael Sam is stepping away from pro football.

Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL, has told the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes that he is leaving the team.

He tweeted Friday that “The last 12 months have been very difficult for me, to the point where I became concerned with my mental health. Because of this I am going to step away from the game at this time.”

He did not play in Montreal’s game against Edmonton on Thursday night, citing a sore back. He made his CFL debut the previous week.

Sam was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Rams, did not make the team.

[naviga:h3]UNC finds more academic issues[/naviga:h3]

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina uncovered possible additional NCAA violations in women’s basketball and men’s soccer while preparing the response to its long-running academic scandal, the school announced Friday.

Its response to the NCAA, due next week, has been delayed. The NCAA will set a date after a review of the new information, school officials said.

During a 20-minute conference call with reporters, athletic director Bubba Cunningham twice referred to the school’s ongoing effort to “earn back trust.”

“As painful as it is, it’s part of the Carolina culture that we want to know what happened, we want to understand it, we want to fix it,” he said.

Cunningham said the new information in women’s basketball was discovered when officials prepared to release emails from former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein’s eight-month investigation.

[naviga:h3]Farrell diagnosed with cancer[/naviga:h3]

BOSTON — Fighting back tears, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said Friday that he had a “highly curable” form of cancer and has taken a medical leave for the rest of the season to deal with lymphoma.

The 53-year-old Farrell said bench coach Torey Lovullo will run the team in his absence.

Farrell said he planned on being back with the team for spring training.

Farrell said the cancer of the lymphatic system was discovered when he had hernia surgery in Detroit earlier this week.

“I know we usually start out with the injury report. I’ll start out with myself on this one. Monday’s surgery for the hernia revealed that I have lymphoma,” he said before Friday night’s game at Fenway Park against Seattle.

“Thankfully, it was detected in the hernia surgery. I can honestly tell you I’m extremely fortunate that it was found. Treatment will begin in the coming days,” he said.

[naviga:h3]WHO supports more testing in Rio[/naviga:h3]

RIO DE JANEIRO — The World Health Organization’s top water expert said Friday the body “never advised against viral testing” for Rio de Janeiro’s polluted waterways where about 1,400 athletes will compete in Olympic events next year.

Bruce Gordon, the WHO’s coordinator of water, sanitation, hygiene and health, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Geneva that testing for viruses “would be advisable” given it’s known that human sewage pollution is rife in Rio’s waters.