ESPN's Colin Cowherd -- Diddy Showered Me In Vodka ... For Praising His Son On Air

This is interesting ... Diddy took such an interest in his son's college football career -- he once sent a huge gift basket of Ciroc Vodka to an ESPN host who praised his kid on the air.

Colin Cowherd tells TMZ Sports ... he never intended to score free stuff from Diddy when he heaped praise on Justin Combs for making the UCLA football team a few years ago. But two days after he talked about the rap mogul's son, the free stuff showed up, courtesy of Puff.

Nice gesture, according to Cowherd who adds ... "now he's throwing kettlebells at people."