He runs his mouth so often for so long that you have to wonder when Terrell Owens finds time to breathe.

For the second time this week, T.O. clawed his way back into the headlines, though most of his latest rant covers such familiar ground it hardly merited that kind of attention. It’s no longer news when another clueless superstar drones on about being persecuted or underpaid – especially not in the same week Latrell Sprewell’s tirade secured him a “Why Me?” Lifetime Achievement Award.

(In case you missed it, Sprewell, who will earn $14.6 million in the final year of a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, said he was “insulted” by the club’s last contract offer of $10 million per for the next three years. “I’ve got my family to feed,” he said. Apparently the Sprewells have never been to Wendy’s.)

Owens’ latest controversy began Sunday, when his Philadelphia Eagles beat Baltimore 15-10 and he celebrated his NFL-best ninth touchdown catch of the season with a mocking imitation of Ravens’ linebacker Ray Lewis, accurate down to the last dance step.

Owens has turned disrespect into an art form, having celebrated one TD catch by pulling a Sharpie out of his sock and autographing a football, and another by posing on the Cowboys’ star at midfield in Texas Stadium. Yet T.O. claimed he was shocked by the venom his latest prank unleashed, beginning with criticism from Lewis, several Ravens and other players around the league, and extending to several “hate” e-mails on his Web site.

“It’s discouraging at times that I get labeled and put in that same mold and that I’m the worst guy that ever put on a uniform,” Owens said. “It’s funny. I listen to all the comments and it baffles me.

“You have a guy like Ray Lewis, who I thought he was pretty much my friend. This is a guy, double murder case, and he could have been in jail, but it seems like the league embraces a guy like that. But I’m going out scoring touchdowns and having fun, but I’m the bad guy.”

Please.

The logic of that complaint is so twisted that given a month to come up with a scheme, even bona fide coaching genius Bill Belichick couldn’t find a way to defend it. So we’ll be content with simply trying to unravel it.

The only person comparing Owens’ antics to Lewis’ involvement in a double-homicide four years ago is Owens himself. He also might be the only guy who thinks that comparison is going to make him more popular with advertisers than he is already.

For all his big-play talent and sometimes-engaging personality, the reasons advertisers aren’t breaking down Owens’ door has nothing to do with Lewis. There are more than enough companies and products out there for both of them, and he knows it. What makes endorsers shy away from T.O. has more to do with his big mouth – ripping his coaches and assistants in public, and in the case of ex-teammate Jeff Garcia, implying to Playboy magazine that he was sure the quarterback was gay.

Which brings us to our next point: For a guy who so loves dishing it out, T.O. sure doesn’t take criticism very well.

If he really feels strongly that Lewis hasn’t repented enough, or that the league’s punishment wasn’t severe or lengthy enough (and a lot of us would agree), shouldn’t Owens have done himself a favor by taking those matters up with Lewis and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue in private? But no.

“I’m obviously not one of those guys who are a face of the NFL that they’re going to have on commercials,” Owens said. “They pick the guys that they feel best suits whatever position they’re trying to come across with. So who knows? I just go out there and I still do my thing.”

Never mind that the last guy who made this “no-respect” shtick work was Rodney Dangerfield, and it took him decades to perfect it.

Dragging this dispute before a weary public is only going to reinforce his image as a whiner, in much the same way that former Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas, shortly after becoming the league’s regular-season MVP, went AWOL from a news conference a few days before the Super Bowl to protest what he felt (incredibly enough) was a lack of recognition.

It’s moments like those that make you wonder what part of “shut up!” guys like Thomas and T.O. don’t understand.

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Jim Litke is a national sport columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org

AP-ES-11-04-04 1951EST