GREEN BAY -- Lee Ackley simply took it all in.

He sat inside Lambeau Field during the Green Bay Packers' annual shareholders meeting Thursday morning -- the retired Madison East football coach had come up from Madison with his wife, Cheryl, as guests of neighbors Henry and Toni Walski -- and saw firsthand how the Brett Favre controversy colored the day.

He heard new president and CEO Mark Murphy, 2 minutes before the meeting was to officially begin, call the Favre situation -- the quarterback's request to be released, the team's attempts to trade him and his still-not-filed reinstatement paperwork -- "a very sensitive situation that will have long-term ramifications for the organization."

He listened to Murphy stand by general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy's decision to move on with new starter Aaron Rodgers, saying, "We are all in unison and very supportive of the way Ted and Mike have handled this delicate situation" -- to which one fan responded, "We're not!" and another shouted "Bring him back!" while most of the rest of the shareholders clapped politely.

He watched as much of the crowd of 9,375 cheered when Murphy introduced Thompson for the football report, amid a smattering of boos, before roughly two-thirds of the crowd rose to their feet, the applause growing louder and drowning out Thompson's detractors.

After the meeting, Ackley stood in the middle of the Lambeau Field atrium and saw a ponytailed fan in a Favre jersey and Jimmy Johns hat start a "Bring Brett Back!" chant, only to see it peter out after less than a minute. He saw the two brothers who founded BringBackBrettFavre.com circulate their petition.

Then, Ackley went up to the fourth-floor club level of the atrium and watched a parade of fans approach Thompson -- some cautiously, some boldly -- to share their thoughts and ask for autographs. Ackley waited his turn as the first dozen or so voiced their support with "Keep up the good work," or some variation thereof. Then a fan comically dressed as Elvis approached Thompson and had him sign his cheesehead, upon which he had scrawled, "Favre is the king." He then said, "Thank you very much."

A man in a Packers tie was the first to challenge Thompson, saying, "It all comes down to one question -- 'which player is our best chance to get to the Super Bowl?' Thompson politely demurred, only to hear from the back of the throng a woman in a gold Favre jersey shout, "Brett Favre deserves more respect than he got." One fan in the mass of people responded by booing, another with, "He retired. Get over it."

Football matters most

Still patient, Ackley stood as the BringBackBrettFavre.com brothers came up in line and asked Thompson to sign their petition. When Thompson responded that he "doesn't get into politics," one of the brothers replied, "We just want our quarterback back. We just want the voice of the fan to be heard."

Thompson was then interrupted to sign -- of all things -- a Favre jersey one teenager was wearing. Talk about irony. (Thompson signed right on the 4 on the back.) Then, the most confrontational of the fans Thompson would meet in the 30-minute session, a 50ish man with an earring in his left ear and wearing a Favre jersey, came to the fore.

"Why would you want a quarterback like Rodgers who can only take you to the Toilet Bowl when you can have Favre, who'll take you to the Super Bowl?" the man said.

And then, after all this, finally, the ol' football coach got his chance. Ackley extended his hand, shook Thompson's, and asked about ... the Packers' long-snapping situation.

"That was a little bit of a surprise," Thompson later confessed with a chuckle. "I would've liked to have talked to him some more."

In truth, Ackley's question was perfectly apropos: Here was a lifelong football man, a Hall of Fame high school coach, stripping away all the soap-opera plotlines and subterfuge and getting down to what matters the most -- the game itself.

"That one guy was right in (Thompson's) face," Ackley said later. "You can see both sides. I mean, I can see where the Packers are coming from. The guy said, 'I'm done.' 'I'd like to come back.' 'I'm done.' 'I'd like to come back, let's talk.' ... I'm sure they would have loved to have had him, but there's a point where you have to put the mark in the sand and say, 'Hey, we're moving on.' "

'Families sometimes disagree'

Ackley represented the lion's share of shareholders at Thursday's meeting, as most either voiced their support for Thompson or kept their pro-Favre thoughts to themselves. Like Ackley, Thompson tried to focus on football.

"We are family here. Families sometimes disagree. But they still remain family," Thompson told the crowd. "This has been a difficult time for all of us, for everyone who cares about the Green Bay Packers. This is a very complicated matter that we will continue to work through.

"As with everything that we do, we always ask God for the strength and wisdom to do the right thing. Through it all, we're guided by the overriding goal of doing what is right -- what is right for this organization, and what is right for this team. This is a team, and we're very excited about this team going forward."

Afterward, Thompson said from his office he went into Thursday's festivities not knowing what to expect or how the crowd would be split.

"I thought it went OK. The people I talked to were very kind," Thompson said. "There are a few who have their differences, but at the end of the day, when you cut to the chase, they're all Packer fans. I thought it went OK. ... It could've gone different, I suppose."

Asked about the semi-standing ovation, Thompson replied, "Obviously it made me feel good, because you know there's a lot of emotion and passion out there. For them to stand and show their support, No. 1 they're showing their support of the Packers. And if some of that was direscted at me, it's very gratifying. It could've gone different, I suppose."

Still not resolved

Yes, it could have, and the issue remains in flux. Murphy said after the meeting the team still hadn't heard back from the NFL on its Favre-related tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers' opponent in the Sept. 8 regular-season opener. The Packers were set to retire Favre's No. 4 jersey that day, but that plan is in limbo.

"We have not made a decision yet on whether to cancel it. But we're coming up to a point where we're going to have to make a decision pretty quickly," said Murphy, aware that season tickets have been sent out -- with Favre's face on the tickets for Game 1. "Regardless of whether it's this year, we're going to retire Brett's number at some point. If it's not this year, it'll be sometime in the future. We'll wait and see, but I think (the situation) is still enough up in the air that we want to wait and see how things play out."

Murphy said any change of heart by the franchise to take Favre back would be "Ted's call," and that Favre hasn't filed for reinstatement, to the best of his knowledge. Murphy also downplayed the role NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is taking in trying to end the rift.

Ackley, meanwhile, was like most Packers fans Thursday, simply wondering how it all might end.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "I've been reading everything that's been coming out on this, and it's to the point where it's really not doing the franchise any good, and it's really not doing Favre's legend any good. It's really kind of sad."