THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : It Appears Chargers Have Means to Replace Butts

SAN DIEGO — Natrone Means knew his life was about to change last winter when, upon returning to his house in tiny Harrisburg, N.C., he found a message waiting for him.

It was from Coach Bobby Ross of the San Diego Chargers. He was flying in from Indianapolis for the sole reason of meeting Means and his mother for dinner.

A few nights later, at a Charlotte hotel, the three held a discussion with ramifications that might be felt in the NFL for the next five months.

Ross wanted to know if Means was ready to become a star.

Means politely wondered what had taken Ross so long to call.

“It’s time,” Means said. “I’m ready to make my mark.”

The San Diego Chargers are hoping that mark is visible on the chest and shoulders of defenders this fall as they give Means the opportunity to become the NFL’s next great running back.

The second-year power rusher from North Carolina leads a long list of NFL players who could have breakout seasons simply because, under the new free-agency and salary-cap system, they will finally be given a chance.

Marion Butts, longtime Charger back, was traded to the New England Patriots this spring for salary reasons.

That instantly gave Means an opportunity to carry the ball as many as 25 times a game, considerably more than double last season’s average of 10 carries a game.

By scoring five touchdowns in the Chargers’ last three games, and gaining 118 yards against the Miami Dolphins in a Monday night game, Means had already shown he deserved that chance.

“I went down to see Natrone and his mama because I wanted to let him know how we felt about him,” said Ross, who visited Charlotte before the Butts trade and never mentioned the possibilities. “I wanted him to know we were hoping to get him the ball a little more this year. And we will. A lot more.”

In one stretch of an exhibition game against the San Francisco 49ers’ first-string defense, the 245-pound Means rumbled for five yards, danced for eight yards, bounced for two yards and bulled for four yards.

And that was all in the game’s first five plays.

“My body can take the pounding; I’ve always gotten stronger as the game has gone along,” said Means, who scored a team-leading eight touchdowns last season while rushing for 645 yards in 160 carries.

“I try not to take the lick, but dish it out,” he added. “You see me getting hit, you’ll always see three or four guys around.”

There should also be a lot of people around these budding heroes this season:

--Sean Dawkins, receiver, Indianapolis Colts: His nationally televised tongue-lashing by quarterback Jeff George last season is but a memory. He is no longer dropping passes and is suddenly making the Colts feel better about saving money by cutting their top two receivers, Reggie Langhorne and Jessie Hester.

--Thomas Smith, cornerback, Buffalo Bills: A fifth consecutive Super Bowl appearance could rest on this second-year player’s ability to fill the void left by Nate Odomes. Scouts say he is playing more than big enough.

--Doug Brien, kicker, 49ers: Mike Cofer’s absence has been embraced by this rookie third-round choice, the only kicker taken in the draft. Brien connected on five of his first six field-goal attempts in the exhibition season--as if the 49ers needed another weapon.

--Kevin Williams, receiver, Dallas Cowboys: He has improved so much from the scared rookie who fumbled everything last season, he could end up catching more big passes than Alvin Harper. “He has been one of the best things to happen to this team in training camp,” fellow receiver Michael Irvin said. “He has turned everyone’s heads.”

--Lamar Lathon, defensive end, Houston Oilers: This former linebacker has a new position, a new job (get the passer) and a new nickname: “RoboRush.” Who gave it to him? He did, of course.

--O.J. McDuffie, receiver and kick returner, Dolphins: As a rookie, he ranked second in the AFC in kick returns behind Raghib Ismail of the Raiders. This season, he’ll be much busier as Dan Marino’s No. 2 target after Irving Fryar. He could match his 19 catches of last season in the first month.

THEY DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THAT ANYMORE

Some tidbits from the NFL’s 75th-Anniversary all-time team:

--Mel Hein, a lineman with the New York Giants in 1931-45, was a starter on both offense and defense, yet did not miss a game in 15 years.

--Bronko Nagurski, a fullback, retired from the Chicago Bears for six years, then returned for the 1943 season to lead them to the championship.

--Bob Lilly, a defensive tackle with the Cowboys in 1961-74, missed one game in 14 years.

--Merlin Olsen, the former Ram star, played in the final 198 consecutive games of his career.

--Chuck Bednarik, a center and linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1949-62, played 58 of 60 minutes in the 1960 NFL championship game.

--Danny Fortmann, a guard with the Bears in 1936-43, started his first NFL game at 19. During his eight-year career, he also found time to earn a medical degree.

--Ernie Nevers, a running back and defensive back for the Duluth Eskimos and Chicago Cardinals in the 1920s and early ‘30s, missed 26 minutes during the 1926 season.

That 29-game season was 1,740 minutes long.

I WOULD LIKE TO ORDER A PIZZA, TWO LARGE COKES AND A THIRD-DOWN PLAY

All you need to understand about the coach-to-quarterback radio can be explained by Matt Rodgers, then-quarterback of the Bills, who was asked about the device that will make its regular-season debut Sunday.

“The people in Suite 11 need more sausages,” Rodgers said.

What?

“The people in Suite 11 need more sausages,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers was just repeating what he heard the first time he pulled on his radio-active helmet this summer.

Not that this was distracting, but he was later cut.

Harvey Shuhart, inventor of the gizmo, admitted that the food service vendors at Rich Stadium had accidentally pirated the game frequency on their walkie-talkies before a recent exhibition game.

“But I went to them before the game and got them to change, because the NFL has exclusive rights to certain frequencies,” said Shuhart, president of Control Dynamics of Ivyland, Pa.

IF YOU’RE ONLY LOOKING AT THE TWO-POINT CONVERSION, YOU’LL MISS THESE

Judging from the exhibition season, three of the most underpublicized new rules figure to have the biggest impact.

They are as follows:

--Moving the kickoffs back five yards to the 30-yard line.

Every time we looked up, somebody was returning a kick to darn near midfield.

In their exhibition game with the Chargers, the average starting point of the nine drives by the 49ers was their 42-yard line. Talk about increasing offense.

This rule will make household names out of kick returners such as Robert Brooks of the Green Bay Packers and Mel Gray of the Detroit Lions.

Oh, so you think kickers will just knock the ball out of bounds? Only if they want their opponents to start on the 40-yard line, another new rule.

--Allowing offensive linemen to line up approximately eight inches farther off the line of scrimmage than last year.

Tackles everywhere are saying that for the first time in their careers, they can hear the quarterbacks, see the defensive end and keep an eye on the ball at the same time.

“We’ve found that this one small thing is really going to improve the offense,” said Jerry Seeman, the NFL’s director of officiating.

--Strictly enforcing the rule that prohibits the “chucking” of a receiver more than five yards from the line of scrimmage.

Not only are defensive backs playing more cautiously, but receivers have apparently decided that officials will now be too busy to watch them chuck the defenders.

QUICK HITTERS

* NAME GAME: Dave Brown, the new quarterback of the New York Giants, has finally realized why he has gotten such little respect this summer. It’s his name.

“Dave Brown is like John Doe,” said Leigh Steinberg, his agent. “It’s just not a quarterback’s name. Not like Troy Aikman.”

So together, Brown and Steinberg have initiated an informal contest to give Brown a better name.

“We may go the three-name route, like calling him David Allen Brown, or David Oscar Brown,” Steinberg said. “Or maybe a prefix name, like Downtown Dave Brown.”

Steinberg also counseled Brown that if a suitable nickname is not found and he is stuck with the same two-syllable moniker, it would not necessarily mean the end of his career.

Look at Steve Young.

* QUESTION OF THE WEEK: The morning after quarterback Drew Bledsoe of the New England Patriots was hospitalized with a stomach ailment earlier this week, the media’s first question of Coach Bill Parcells was, “Did you give him an ulcer?”

* CHARTER MEMBER OF TERRY McDANIEL FAN CLUB: Jerry Rice, who needs three touchdowns to pass Jim Brown and become the NFL’s all-time touchdown leader, could conceivably set the record in Anaheim during the 49ers’ third game.

That would be fitting, considering he has scored 11 of his 124 touchdowns against the Rams. They are second on his hit list behind the Atlanta Falcons, who have allowed 20 of Rice’s touchdowns.

There is only one team he has not scored against during the regular season or postseason in his nine years. He will have another chance Monday night at Candlestick Park, because that team is the Raiders.

* NOW DO YOU BELIEVE US? Those who still think Miami’s Dan Marino will be as good as ever Sunday should listen to fellow quarterback Warren Moon, who met with Marino after the Dolphins played an exhibition game with Moon’s Minnesota Vikings.

“I talked to him after the game,” Moon told reporters. “He’s still not real confident in planting on his Achilles’ (tendon). It’s more than the calf muscle now, really. For him to plant right now is psychologically very tough because I’m sure he has in the back of his mind, it might pop again. It’s just something he has to get over.”

Two of Marino’s teammates have already said that it might be best if Bernie Kosar started Sunday against the New England Patriots.

* WAYNE’S WORLD: Coach Wayne Fontes of the Detroit Lions, that noted clone of Bill Walsh, said he gave quarterback Scott Mitchell special instructions at the beginning of the regular season: “Touchdowns. Score touchdowns.”