Nickname Game? Just Call Chargers' Means Unstoppable

KIRKLAND - Natrone Means likes most of the nicknames and plays-on-words his name generates. Except one.

"Refried Means" was what ESPN wordsmith Chris Berman labeled the star second-year running back for the San Diego Chargers.

"I really didn't like that one," Means said yesterday in a telephone interview.

The other popular tags and slogans: "Natrone Means Business," "By Any Means Necessary" and "Natrone Bomb."

The 5-foot-10, 240-pounder is the main weapon in the Charger attack and an obvious reason San Diego 6-1 and leading the AFC West.

Natrone pronounced "NAY-tron") leads the AFC in touchdowns with eight and is fourth in the NFL in rushing with 686 yards.

The second-year back with a four-year, $1.5 million contract is one of the NFL's bargains.

Means can't be stopped with an arm tackle and has a knack for turning a 3-yard gain into an 8-yard advance. But he is more than just a bulldozer. While he doesn't have breakaway speed, he has quick feet and can make people miss.

"He's fast, strong and big," said Seahawk linebacker Terry Wooden. "He has it all."

Means, a 1993 second-round draft choice who left North Carolina a year early, played behind Marion Butts last season. Butts was traded to New England in the offseason after Coach Bobby Ross visited Means in the offseason. Ross told him to prepare for a bigger role in the offense.

Butts, who weighs 250 pounds, is averaging 2.8 yards a carry for the Patriots; Means is averaging 4.5 for the Chargers.

"Means is more agile and lighter on his feet than Butts," Wooden said.

Ross's visit to North Carolina also enabled the coach to meet Means' mother, Gwendolyn Stevenson, who took a no-nonsense approach to raising her four children as a single parent. When she didn't like Natrone's behavior as an eighth-grader - "He was very mischievous and he had a macho attitude," she told one writer - she didn't allow him to play football. He shaped up.

The Seahawks could have used her intervention last month. Means rushed 24 times for 86 yards and scored a touchdown in the Chargers' 24-10 Week 3 victory at Husky Stadium.

Although Seahawk tacklers bounced off him on many plays, yesterday he called the Seahawk defense the most physical he has faced this year.

Means has proved he can take a hit, which doesn't surprise Ross, who believes big backs such as Means are more durable.

The Seahawks get another chance to stop Means on Sunday in the rematch in San Diego.

The way to keep him in check?

"You've got to get him before he gets started," said middle linebacker Rod Stephens.