"Terrell Owens claims he wasn't trying to duck his baby's mother by not appearing at a child support hearing last month ... instead, he claims he had an obligation to attend a public workout session in the hopes of securing an NFL contract.

TMZ broke the story ... a California judge issued a bench warrant for the football player's arrest for not appearing at a scheduled hearing on October 24.

But T.O.'s rep tells us he tried like hell to reschedule because he had a massively publicized workout at Calabasas High School that day (below) ... but his baby's mother wouldn't cut him a break.

As far as the child support payments are concerned, T.O's rep says ... "Mr. Owens pays child support payments for his 4 children. The amounts are based on his 2007 Cowboys income of $11-$12 million a year." "