CLEVELAND — He stood on the visitors sideline wearing a white Jets baseball cap and workout shirt. He held a foreign play chart and listened intently as Brett Ratliff explained every offensive call. He talked to tight end Bubba Franks, one of the few guys he had met before.
Brett Favre wasn’t in Green Bay anymore.
He wasn’t in New York, either, as the circus that has become his life made an unexpected stop in Browns Town on Thursday night.
“The last 24 hours have been crazy,” he said. “The whole offseason was bizarre. But I’m excited about this opportunity.”
Favre, who holds every significant record for an NFL quarterback and has had his own section on the ESPN scroll for a week, was traded late Wednesday night from the Green Bay Packers for a conditional draft pick in 2009 that could become a first-rounder if the Jets win the Super Bowl.
The Jets just happened to be in Cleveland for the preseason opener, so Favre flew from his home near Hattiesburg, Miss., to New Jersey to meet with Jets officials, then boarded a charter for Cleveland.
He wore a headset to listen to the play calls and got pointers from backup quarterbacks Ratliff, who was on the Jets practice squad last year, and rookie Erik Ainge. Meanwhile, Kellen Clemens enjoyed perhaps his last night as starting quarterback.
“To a certain degree, I don’t know what I’m getting into,” Favre said.
Before he could join the strangers he now called teammates, Favre had to attend a much-anticipated news conference, which started 45 minutes before the 7:30 kickoff. He held up a No. 4 jersey, sat between Jets chairman and CEO Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum and talked for 18 minutes about his new team, his old home of 16 years and the bad blood that drove him out of town.
“I think we’re probably both at fault,” he said. “I’m not going to blame one side or the other. A lot of things happened this season, a lot of shocking things. But at this point it’s irrelevant.”
The tiny visitors interview room at the bottom of Cleveland Browns Stadium was packed and seating was limited. Photographers lined up outside the doorway in the concourse and strained to get a glimpse of the scruffy-faced legend who hasn’t missed a start in 275 games.
“I’m here for one reason. Not to do commercials, Broadway, all those things,” Favre said. “I’m here to help the Jets win.”
Favre holds league records in career yards (61,655), touchdowns (442) and wins (160). He’s a three-time MVP who still has a rocket arm and led the Packers to the NFC championship game last season.
To make room on the roster and under the salary cap, the Jets cut quarterback Chad Pennington, who had been fighting with Clemens for the starting job.
In Wisconsin, Packers fans were forced to come to grips with the reality that their hero would be playing for someone else. At least that someone else is in the AFC.
“I always wanted to be a Packer and I think I always will be a Packer,” Favre said. “I’m not a traitor, never will be. It’s business. It’s the way it works. I gave everything I could possibly give. I hope the Jets fans see the same thing.”
Favre was traded from the NFL’s smallest market to the world’s largest stage. It wasn’t always a scenario he embraced.
“I haven’t played in New York. I’m a South Mississippi boy, but I know how tough the city can be and I know how great it can be,” he said. “It can be as good as you want to make it.”
The process starts today with a conditioning test Favre said he was eager to take. He has just under a month to get ready for the regular-season opener Sept. 7 at Miami.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

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