NEW YORK -- Emerging from a meeting where he had shared with NFL owners his view on the issue of hiring practices, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw on Wednesday termed "ridiculous" a plan submitted by civil rights activists that would reward or penalize franchises via draft picks for considering minority candidates.

"I think if you have a mandated, diverse list of candidates, all you invite are sham interviews and sham hiring lists," said Upshaw. "We really don't need Johnnie Cochran to remind us (of the paucity of black head coaches). We all know what the numbers are."

Upshaw met briefly with owners here as the league convened its annual two-day fall meetings. The diversity issue, fueled by a report from Cochran and prominent labor attorney Cyrus Mehri, is on the official agenda and it will be raised before the owners adjourn early Thursday afternoon.

The primary purpose of the fall meetings was to discuss the possibility of awarding a future Super Bowl game to either New York or to Washington, D.C. Representatives from both cities made presentations at the morning session and both seemed confident the league would set aside its current Super Bowl rules and permit a title game in a so-called "northern tier" city without a domed stadium.

After a lunch break, owners convened at the New York Stock Exchange for an afternoon session, which centered around business issues that are normally discussed at the annual fall session. Owners were to tour Ground Zero late in the afternoon. It was clear, though, that the diversity hot button issue was one discussed by owners in the meetings and privately, too. If it did not dominate the two Wednesday sessions, it certainly hung over the proceedings, much like the dark clouds enveloping this city.

Because of the report, titled "Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities," the league has again been forced to confront its poor record in the hiring of minorities for head coach and key front office positions.

There currently are only two black head coaches, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets' Herman Edwards, in the league. There have been only four black head coaches in the "modern era" of the NFL.

The owners have all received the report along with a resolution -- the "Fair Competition Resolution" -- drawn up by Mehri and Cochran.

	“	I think if you have a mandated, diverse list of candidates, all you invite are sham interviews and sham hiring lists. We really don't need Johnnie Cochran to remind us (of the paucity of black head coaches). We all know what the numbers are. ”
		— Gene Upshawm, NFL Players Association executive director

Under the resolution, clubs could be penalized as much as a first-round draft choice for not having minority candidates among the finalists for coaching and management positions. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue would also have the prerogative to reward, with compensatory draft choices, teams which considered minorities for key coaching and front office vacancies.

While owners are sensitive to the issue, most strongly suggested Wednesday that they do not believe the resolution has merit and contended it will not fly. Neither, owners said, will they be daunted by the threats of litigation made by Cochran and Mehri.

"Am I concerned about a lawsuit?" said Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney. "Hey, anymore, you can be sued by anyone, I guess. But I don't think that there is anything to their case."

In fact, league counsel Jeff Pash, who last week met here with Cochran and Mehri, noted: "It is not the stuff of which good lawsuits are made."

There is a chance, some owners told ESPN.com, that the league will propose its own resolution before the meeting adjourns. But it would be, they pointed out, similar to their past agreements to work harder at presenting head coach and management opportunities for minority candidates.

The league continues to operate, however, under the premise that it remains a meritocracy, an entity where players and coaches are basically rewarded on their performance. That seemed to be the sentiments of most owners as they roamed the corridors of a Manhattan hotel.

"I have a (black) head coach and, I can tell you, he got his job because he is a tremendous football coach," said Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay. "Ours was not a decision based on skin color, that's for sure."

Mehri is a Washington attorney who won settlements against Coca-Cola and Texaco in race discrimination actions. Cochran, of course, is a high profile attorney, most famous for his defense of O.J. Simpson. The men suggested in a broadcast story Tuesday evening that there are men prepared to attach their name to possible litigation as plaintiffs. But most minority coaches who have discussed the issue with ESPN.com have said they will not be party to litigation and will continue to work through the current system.

One prominent black assistant termed such a lawsuit "professional suicide" and said he believed most of his peers agreed with that assessment. Pash said he did not know if Mehri and Cochran had plaintiffs lined up.

Two owners contacted by ESPN.com last week said the Cochran-Mehri resolution was interesting but contended that most of their colleagues are already aware that Tagliabue has for years pushed for clubs to consider minority candidates. "A lot of owners don't like to be threatened," said one owner. "And that's how they see this."

Said Upshaw, before bolting to catch a flight: "We need to use the resources we already have in place. I truly believe we are seeing progress and that we will continue to see progress. It used to be that the issue was the lack of black quarterbacks in the league. Now we have a ton of black quarterbacks and everybody wants one."

Tagliabue, who has demonstrated a history for social consciousness during his tenure, said the key to more minority hires is "getting the right people in the process." He said that identifying strong candidates in general, both for coaching and management positions, would help alleviate the problem.

For several years now, Tagliabue has been urging owners to consider minority candidates for high profile positions.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.