UCLA Football: People Upset over Diddy's Son's Scholarship Need to Relax

Recently, Business Insider reported that some folks in California are upset about Justin Combs, son of rapper, producer and all-around music mogul Sean "Puffy" or "P. Diddy" Combs, receiving a scholarship to play football for the UCLA Bruins.

They are calling for the son of the millionaire to have his scholarship pulled and have his parents pay for college because Puff Daddy can afford the tuition at UCLA.

Those people need to be told to sit down and button up their lip.

Football scholarships are not awarded to student-athletes based upon parental income. These are not "need-based" scholarships given to aid the cost of a student attending college.

Football scholarships—and athletic scholarships in general—are given based upon the ability of a player to produce on the field, provided their grades meet the requirements for admission. 

Justin Combs meets the grade requirements, so the only reason he should not have been awarded a scholarship is due to his play. That's up to the coaches.

You only get 85 scholarships in college football, 25 per recruiting cycle. If Combs was one of the best 25 players that UCLA could get into its boat this past February then he deserves the scholarship as much as every other player.

In looking at UCLA's signing class and the recruitment of Combs, it seems he is among their best 25 available kids. No doubt his grades helped grease his wheels, as he was closer to a sure thing with admissions.

There weren't a ton of offers for Justin Combs, but Illinois and Virginia were among those who extended a scholarship, so UCLA was not alone from the BCS ranks.

As for the Bruins' class in general, they inked two other 2-star players to go with Combs, so the kid is far from a recruiting anomaly.

Ultimately, the folks worrying about whose parents can and cannot pay need to keep their eyeballs out of other folks' pockets. It's UCLA football's scholarship to burn.

If they want to question the merit, they shouldn't.

Whether it is full-blown merit or the idea that getting Justin Combs is going to help in recruiting or with image, the fact is, UCLA awarded the kid a football scholarship for a reason, and to be blunt, rich kids can play football too.

photo via Mrs. Grapevine