SAN DIEGO, March 6 (UPI) -- The San Diego Chargers said goodbye to Natrone Means for the second time Monday when they waived the veteran running back today.
Means endured an injury-plagued season in 1999, rushing for 277 yards and four touchdowns on 112 carries in seven games.
He had played in just 17 of the club's last 32 games due to assorted injuries. In 1998, Means rushed for 883 yards in 10 games and was well on his way to a 1,000-yard season but missed the final six games with a broken foot.
The last time Means played in all 16 games was in 1994, when he set the franchise record with 1,350 rushing yards and powered the Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance.
Means, 27, a 1993 second-round pick of the Chargers, played his first three years with San Diego before he was waived for salary cap purposes. He signed with Jacksonville in 1996 and played two years with the Jaguars before rejoining the Chargers in 1998.
Unless the Chargers address their backfield needs in the draft, the rushing duties will fall to Jermaine Fazande and recently signed Robert Chancey. San Diego ranked 15th in the AFC and 27th in the NFL in rushing last season, averaging just 77.9 yards per game.
A 1999 second-round pick out of Oklahoma, Fazande led the Chargers in rushing last season with 365 yards and two TDs on 91 carries in seven games. Chancey played in just one game for the Dallas Cowboys in 1999.
