New Orleans Saints star quarterback Drew Brees discussed a host of topics, including the potential return of the NFL and the role of sports in overcoming the coronavirus crisis in the US, during a wide-ranging interview on The Ellen Show on Wednesday. Brees and his wife Brittany, who joined him for the appearance, detailed how the family is coping with home schooling and staving off boredom, before host Ellen Degeneres turned the topic to football. "We're thrilled you signed for two more years," said Ellen. "Yay. I think we were all hoping that was the case. Now, what's going to happen? You're supposed to be training soon, at some point. Will you play games without fans? How's that going to work?" Brees admitted he was put off by the proposal initially. "You know, when that was first said -- and obviously they were talking about basketball when they first started saying that, 'Hey we might still play the games, but we can't have the crowds, so no fans in the stands' -- that was the first time I ever thought about playing a really meaningful game in a situation where you don't have any fans. "From Texas high school football, through college in the Big 10, to games now in the SuperDome, you're used to those loud, electric atmospheres, and so I think it would be really weird. Maybe you just click in and you're in the zone." Interestingly, Brees says having fans present provides not only energy for players -- but even a potential strategic advantage. "I'll tell you where the fans really help, is whenever you get hit and knocked down and you're wondering what happened, you just listen to the sound of the fans, and they usually tell whether the ball was complete or not. ... But it would be really weird. I hope we're obviously beyond that, and we can get back to that level of normalcy." The 19-year veteran said Americans need their sports fix now more than ever during the difficult times. "I think the American people need sports right now. That's typically something that has really brought us through a lot of tough situations throughout our country, I think people have been able to lean on their local sports teams or national teams, just to unite them and get their mind off the challenges of daily life and daily struggle, and we don't even have that right now. I have loved @DrewBrees and his wife Brittany for a long time, but this is above and beyond. pic.twitter.com/ZMovdhpyqd— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) April 8, 2020LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

NFL quarterback Jameis Winston offered an optimistic take on being replaced by Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. The free agent quarterback, appearing on Fox News on Wednesday to promote a coronavirus hotline he helped set up, said he's not bothered by being supplanted by a future Hall of Famer. "One thing you can learn about me is my faith," Winston said. "I have tremendous faith in my lord, and one thing about Tom Brady is it's understood that he is the G.O.A.T. For you to get replaced by Tom Brady in a city that you love so much, I guess that's kudos to me." LISTEN: @Jaboowins explains the toll-free coronavirus hotline he launched with the help of Dr. Scott Kelley #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/3A9IolZqMy— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) April 8, 2020Winston's tenure in Tampa Bay all but ended with the signing of Brady, five seasons after he was drafted first overall out of in-state Florida State in 2015. The Alabama native showed flashes that made him the top pick, leading the league in passing yards in coach Bruce Arians' dynamic offense, but he struggled to protect the ball, also leading the league in interceptions. Winston said the turn of events has inspired him to improve. "I'm gonna have to play the Tom Bradys, the Patrick Mahomes, and all the other great quarterbacks eventually. That's how you win Super Bowls, and that's what I want." Winston announced on Monday the creation of a toll-free coronavirus hotline, started with surgeon Dr. Scott Kelley, intended to allow people with questions to get answers without leaving their homes.

As Jim Nantz would tell you, The Masters is a tradition unlike any other. And while golf’s biggest event, which was slated to begin this week, has been postponed until November amid the coronavirus outbreak, that won’t stop Tiger Woods from donning his familiar green jacket. It’s tradition at Augusta that the previous year’s winner hosts the Masters’ annual Champions Dinner. It’s also the reigning champ’s responsibility to select a menu with recent main courses including Patrick Reed’s preferred ribeye last year, Jordan Spieth’s barbecue-themed dinner in 2015 and Phil Mickelson’s choice of lobster ravioli and Caesar salad. Woods won’t be hitting the links at Augusta this week, but his Masters dinner went on as planned, albeit in the comfort of his own home. Eating with his girlfriend and two children at their Florida home (the family dog was also a participant), the five-time Masters champ presented a delectable spread of steak, fajitas and sushi, the same offerings Woods selected for his 2006 dinner (the result of this impossible shot) at Augusta. Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Masters’ postponement, Woods had also contemplated milkshakes as a menu item, a callback to the first Masters dinner he hosted in 1998. That year Woods, then a bright-eyed 22-year-old, treated his guests to cheeseburgers, fries and of course, the aforementioned milkshakes. Masters Champions Dinner quarantine style. Nothing better than being with family. pic.twitter.com/xPK769CWCf— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 7, 2020The rescheduled Champions Dinner is slated for November 10, giving Woods plenty of time to fine-tune his menu choices. In the meantime, it looks like he and his quarantined family very much enjoyed Tuesday’s dry run at the Woods household. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

Cal Ripken Jr. applauds Major League Baseball for considering unconventional approaches to return to play from the coronavirus. MLB is trying to find solutions to a complex problem, with one idea reportedly considering playing the 2020 regular season entirely in Arizona beginning as early as May or June. Under that proposed plan – which the league says it has not settled on – would place all 30 teams in the greater Phoenix area and utilize Chase Field, the home of the Diamondbacks, along with a number of other fields and stadiums in the area, including 10 spring training facilities. In an interview with The Sports Junkies Wednesday on 106.7 The Fan, Ripken was asked whether he thinks that plan could work. "If you put your analytical mind to the test, there's a lot of hurdles and challenges to get over something like that," Ripken said. "But I think it hit me yesterday that they're really trying to get baseball back in some way, some shape or form, and that made me happy, because I think sports in general can serve as a mechanism to bring us back." "I know in 9/11, after we all reacted to 9/11, we didn't know what to do," Ripken said. "And then all of a sudden the baseball season got pushed back a week or so and we come back to the game, and the celebration of baseball and people being able to immerse themselves in the pennant race, it seemed like we played a nice role in helping us at least with a distraction." "I've always believed that baseball in particular can be healing in some ways," he said, "and I think we're gonna need a way to bring us back to some sense of normalcy. And my sense of normalcy is when baseball's being played, or when you turn on SportsCenter and you can see all the games that were played yesterday. "So I applaud Major League Baseball for trying to figure it out, and I know they would never compromise the players in that situation, but they're racking their brains pretty good trying to figure out how we can bring baseball back and just to give us the sense of something to look forward to each day." "How would you have felt, though, as a veteran with young kids to be away from your family for four months," he was asked, "if that's the way they do it?" "Well I mean, you don't know what the timeframe is, and so you go into it not necessarily thinking the worst," Ripken said. "I think I would look at it from an optimistic standpoint. I think baseball players are baseball players, and they're sitting around not doing what they do, and so I think generally they want to play." "Same question is can they play in front of no fans?" he continued. "It's sad to think about that, but we all played in front of very little fans at some points in our career, and even going back to the sandlot days, we competed really hard with nobody cheering for us. "And so to me, given the choice, I'd rather have baseball back in some capacity and then try to deal with the situations, then not have it back at all." LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

Join the 790 The Ticket Street Squad at Twin Peaks in Hollywood: 440 SW 145th Avenue Hollywood. We will be handing out prizes and playing games while we get ready for the BIG GAME that starts at 6:30pm sharp!