Sports in brief

FOOTBALL

Cushing tested positive

for fertility drug

Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing tested positive for HCG, a fertility drug that is on the NFL's banned substance list.

A person familiar with Cushing's case told The Associated Press Tuesday that Cushing had one positive test last September, then subsequently tested negative several times.

The NFL has suspended Cushing for the first four games of the season. He won the AP's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honor in January. Now the AP is taking a revote for the award.

Human chorionic gonadotropin is widely taken by steroid users to help restart natural testosterone production. HCG can mitigate the side effects of ending a cycle of drugs. It's also used to induce ovulation and treat ovarian disorders in women. In 2009, Manny Ramirez was suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for testing positive for HCG.

A person familiar with the negotiations said the Texans have agreed to a deal with free-agent linebacker Danny Clark, who spent the last two seasons with the Giants.

Williams leaves Bucs

One-time Super Bowl most valuable player Doug Williams says he's leaving as Tampa Bay Buccaneers director of pro personnel to pursue "new options." The club was 3-13 in 2009.

GOLF

Death still a mystery

LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg had her bags packed for a tournament in Alabama when she died suddenly Sunday at her home in Henderson, Nev., her agent said. Police aren't saying how she died.

"We don't know yet who, what or why," agent Chase Callahan said. Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy said a ruling on a cause of death was pending blood and tissue tests that could take four to six weeks to complete.

COLLEGES

Big Ten douses rumors

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany e-mailed conference officials to stamp out a rumor that four schools - Notre Dame, Rutgers, Nebraska and Missouri - had been offered a chance to join the league, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said.

TENNIS

Federer breezes

Defending champion Roger Federer defeated Benjamin Becker of Germany, 6-2, 7-6 (4), to reach the third round of the clay-court Madrid Masters.

SOCCER

Davies cut by U.S.

Charlie Davies failed to make the 30-man preliminary U.S. World Cup team seven months after nearly being killed in a car crash. He has been sidelined since the Oct. 13 accident.- AP