KIRKLAND – In 2002, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens incited no meager amount of vitriolic criticism when he scored a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks, promptly whipped a Sharpie from his sock and autographed the football with which he had just crossed the goal line.

It was at best, vocal detractors said, a sign of disrespect to the Seahawks and a self-aggrandizing act of shameless promotion, and at worst the obvious affirmation that Owens is a distant blood relative of Lucifer.

Owens’ protégé, if you will, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, comes to Qwest Field this Sunday and is promising that if he achieves the same level of success that Owens did on that October night almost five years ago, he too will perform some memorable act that, like Owens’, will be splashed across every newspaper and replayed on every newscast in the country.

But in Johnson’s case, the reaction will be far less chastisement and far more comical admiration, the court jester entertaining the royal NFL family through inclusion rather than impertinent mockery.

Why the disparity in public perception between Owens, who was fined $7,500 on Wednesday for poking fun at the New England Patriots’ use of video equipment to steal play calls from the New York Jets, and the gold-toothed Johnson, who spent a few seconds of Sunday afternoon propelling himself into Cleveland’s Dawg Pound, where he was hugged by the majority of Browns fans and doused with beer by one?

“I don’t know where Terrell went wrong with how he stepped on people or rubbed people the wrong way,” Johnson said. “I came in the league with this fun and playful nature about the way I approach the game, but at the same time I’ve been very productive in doing everything the right way.

“I’ve always been this way so … it’s hard to try and lump me in that category. That’s just how I’ve been. That’s how I came in.”

Even Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has manifested some conflicted emotions regarding Johnson and his antics.

When Holmgren was asked on Wednesday about his view of touchdown celebrations that go beyond the normal emotion of the moment, Holmgren said he was not a fan, and specifically brought up Owens’ Sharpie incident because, he said, it was premeditated.

Of course, at this point all of Johnson’s theatrics are well thought out in advance, including two weeks ago when he scored on the Baltimore Ravens and, when he reached the sideline, pulled a jacket out of a bag that had on the back: “Future H.O.F 20??”

“I like Chad,” Holmgren said. “The times we’ve played, and the times I’ve been with him, it’s very cordial. He’s a good guy. I’m not a big fan of all that other stuff, though. I wouldn’t like our guys to do it.”

Perhaps the appeal of Johnson and the antipathy felt for Owens is rooted in the very nature of their distinct personalities, much the same way fans and media feel so dramatically different about Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds.

Owens is a loner, concerned primarily about himself at the expense of coaches, teammates and opponents, all too willing to run over others if the chosen path leads toward his own acclaim. Because of his imperious history, his actions are viewed as disingenuous – even, some say, his attempted suicide.

Johnson is a self-described class clown, a product of Miami who in his youth watched and emulated the University of Miami Hurricanes, themselves the object of wide criticism. Johnson is able to meld humor and ebullience into an intoxicating mix that allows him to currently reside among pop culture’s elite entertainers.

It helps, of course, that he is not only productive – who wants to listen to a blowhard who can’t score? – but also a leader on a team that has seen its share of off-the-field problems in recent seasons.

“He’s very popular because he works so dog-gone hard,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “He never misses work, he never misses practice. Even if he is injured he doesn’t miss. He doesn’t want anybody else to take his reps. He takes all the reps. He takes more reps than we would like him to take most of the time. It’s just the way he is; he’s driven.”

Perhaps the best that can be said about him is that opposing defensive backs don’t say anything about him.

With all of Johnson’s bravado and in-game chatter, one would think that he would elicit more enemies, those willing to revel in his failures.

Even new Seahawks safety Brian Russell, who while with Cleveland administered what Johnson calls the only good hit on him in his career – a shot that wobbled Johnson so badly that a Bengals public relations employee had to cut short Johnson’s postgame interview because he clearly was addled – was excessively deferential, refusing to say anything about Johnson or that tackle that Johnson might use as incentive on Sunday.

Russell, as well as Kelly Jennings and Marcus Trufant, know that Johnson totaled 209 yards receiving last week, 304 for the season, which leads the NFL. They know that he has scored three touchdowns.

They realize all too well that he is big, powerful, fast and, as he said, “can stop on a dime while going full speed,” which with Carson Palmer playing quarterback on Sunday is likely to lead to a score and some sort of choreographed celebration.

Strangely, it’s one of the things that many fans at Qwest Field and watching the game on TV anticipate most, even if it means their team was just scored upon.

“You have to remember,” Johnson said, “everything I do is just fun; fun in a loving nature way. You have to realize the difference between things that I do and other people.

“All mine is about having fun and entertaining the fans and those who watch the game, that’s all.”

NFL LEADERS,

RECEIVING YARDS:

Chad Johnson, Bengals304

Randy Moss, Patriots288

Steve Smith, Panthers271

Andre Johnson, Texans262

Jerricho Cotchery, Jets227