Former UCLA Coach Admits Diddy’s Fame Landed His Son A Spot On The Team
When Simpsons villain Mr. Burns wanted to get his son into a prestigious college, school bigwigs insisted he build them an international airport in return. UCLA wasn’t as demanding when it came to P. Diddy’s son Justin Combs, according to the school’s former football coach Rick Neuheisel. Speaking on his Sirius XM show, Neuheisel discussed his decision to offer the younger Combs a spot on the college football team some years ago.
“When you’re weighing the assets of what a youngster can do for your program, there’s no question [being Diddy’s son] had something to do with it for me,” Neuheisel explained in comments transcribed by Daily Mail. “Justin is a great kid. His problem was his size. He’s not big enough to be a dominant player. Could he be productive? Yes. The fact his father was an influential guy played into my decision to go ahead and offer him.”
Diddy’s recent altercation with UCLA football coaching staff Sal Alosi ostensibly prompted Neuheisel’s discussion of Justin’s spot on the team. As previously reported by Inquisitr, Diddy was arrested on June 22 after allegedly assaulting Alosi with a kind of metal weight that is commonly referred to as a kettlebell. The award-winning rapper and producer was reportedly enraged at Alosi’s vociferous criticism of Combs from the sidelines.
Neuheisel also shared a few things he knew about the alleged assault, stating that he had heard that UCLA staff initially did not want to press charges against Diddy. Campus police decided to do so after reviewing video of the incident. NBC News reports that Diddy was ultimately charged with a total of five felonies, adding that UCLA officials – including head coach Jim Mora – hope the charges will ultimately be dropped on the condition that Diddy will abide by a permanent ban from their facilities.
ESPN Radio personality Colin Cowherd also jumped on the Diddy dogpile, noting his experience with Diddy had been the polar opposite of what UCLA staff experienced. Quoting a report by TMZ, the Washington Post indicated that Cowherd claims Diddy showered him in expensive vodka after he made some positive comments about Justin Combs and his gig with UCLA.
“So years ago, when his son was offered a scholarship to UCLA, I went on the air and I said it’s pretty cool that even though he’s worth a billion dollars, his kid worked hard enough to be a Division I football player,” Cowherd said in comments transcribed by the Washington Post. “So it got back to Diddy that I said it, and two days later I got this gigantic basket full of his vodkas. So somebody said that they heard I had complimented his fathering and his parenting. … I thought it was [a nice gesture].”
Cowherd’s assumption that Combs “worked hard” to get on with UCLA takes quite the hit when juxtaposed with Neuheisel’s admission that P. Diddy’s star-power greased the skids for his son. Nevertheless, Justin Combs has managed to stay on the team for better or worse up to now. Whether Diddy’s shenanigans ultimately bring about a parting of company between the Combs family and UCLA will surely unfold over the course of the coming weeks and months.
[Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images]
