JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University athletics department will introduce a new major special annual award beginning this spring with the creation of the Robert J. Delaney Service Above Self Award. The inaugural award will be announced on June 1, 2020.
 
The accolade will be one of the most prestigious awards NJCU bestows annually and will be named in honor of NJCU Hall of Famer Bob Delaney  `85, the 2020 recipient of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's highest honor—The Theodore Roosevelt Award.
 
The first recipient will be awarded virtually this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in 2021, the award will be presented annually at The Gothics—NJCU's annual athletics awards banquet on campus.
 

"I have had the honor to receive awards throughout my life and the recognition is humbling for sure," said Delaney. "However, having an award in my name at my alma mater takes the word 'humbling' to another level. When I was presented the 2020 NCAA President Theodore Roosevelt award this past January, I was representing every New Jersey City University student-athlete who has, or will, play for NJCU. This institution and the people that make NJCU a special place have shaped who I am. The Service Above Self Award criteria represents the greatest gift New Jersey City University provided me—an understanding of how to win humbly, lose graciously and to turn disappointment into motivation. It is all about the team in sports and in life!"
 
Shawn Tucker, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics, added: "Bob Delaney is the ultimate NJCU success story and the creation of this special award is his name will further solidify his legacy in the history of our university. Bob's entire life embodies the mantra of service above self and his example will be the gold standard for others to emulate in their lives. What he has done as a state trooper, NBA official and NBA Cares Ambassador and servant to our military is inspiring. He has forever impacted lives across the country and around the world while proudly representing NJCU everywhere he has gone. The Robert J. Delaney Service Above Self Award will be a perpetual honor that will celebrate his contributions to society while recognizing individuals throughout the NJCU athletics community for their own selfless acts."
 
The Robert J. Delaney Service Above Self Award will be presented annually to an individual or individuals who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in the community, campus, classroom, and sport and whose personal and professional pursuits have served the greater good and best personify the attributes for which Bob Delaney is known.
 

Delaney, a 2006 NJCU Hall of Fame inductee in the sport of men's basketball and baseball, is the epitome of service above self. Delaney was honored on January 22 in Anaheim, California with the NCAA's most prestigious lifetime award during the NCAA Honors Celebration during the 2020 NCAA Convention. His remarkable life story as a New Jersey state trooper turned legendary National Basketball Association (NBA) referee transcends sports. 
 
The "Teddy" is the highest honor the NCAA may confer on an individual and Delaney was the first-ever recipient from a college or university in the state of New Jersey, the 10th from an NCAA Division III institution and only the second from a Division III public school. The award had previously been presented upon four United States presidents—Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Other notable winners of the award include politicians, presidential cabinet members, Olympians, astronauts, sports commissioners and professional head coaches. The award is given annually to an individual who exemplifies the ideals of college sports. First presented in 1967, past recipients include some of the most well-known Americans of the last 100 years. 
 
ABOUT BOB DELANEY
Over the course of a 25-year distinguished officiating career from 1987-88 through 2010-11, Delaney emerged as one of the NBA's highest-rated crew chiefs, calling 1,526 regular season and 210 playoff games, including nine NBA Finals and the 1998 and 2011 NBA All-Star Game. Delaney served on the Board of the National Basketball Referees Association for 12 years.
 
After hanging up his whistle, in 2012 Delaney transitioned to NBA Referee Operations management and later became Vice President, Referee Operations and Director of Officials for three seasons before retiring in November 2017.

Delaney stepped down in Fall 2017 as the NBA's Vice President, Referee Operations and Director of Officials after a 30-year career with the League. In August 2018, he was appointed Special Advisor for Officiating Development and Performance by the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

In June 2018, Delaney officiated a nationally-televised one-on-one charity basketball game between United States Senator Ted Cruz and comedian Jimmy Kimmel on ABC Television's Jimmy Kimmel Live.
 

Delaney continues to be a long-time NBA Cares Ambassador, promoting the NBA's partnership with the United States military as part of the League's mission of addressing important global social issues. Delaney conducts programming and interacts with veterans and active duty service members. He has been embedded with U.S. troops and NATO forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Europe, Canada, and at bases and posts across the United States.
 
His contributions to PTS awareness and support to military officials and their families have been recognized with honors and proclamations from many, including President Barack Obama and senior-ranking military leaders. Notably, in 2010, President Barack Obama conferred upon Delaney the President's Volunteer Service Award for his ongoing PTS education and awareness work with the military.
 
A 2017 nominee for the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award, he was the 2014 recipient of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award. In 2017, he was recognized by the Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors (TAPS) with the National Community Partnership Award for his work with military Gold Star families.
 
In 2011, in recognition of his assistance in the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings and his work with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, he received The Meritorious Public Service Medal, formerly known as the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, from the U.S. Army. The citation is the third-highest public service award the Department of the Army can award to a private citizen.
 
He has published two books: Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob was released in 2008, and Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress followed in 2011.
 
Additionally, he was presented with the 2003 National Association of Sports Officials Gold Whistle Award and the NBA Officials Community Service Award.
  Delaney was a captain of the Gothic Knight men's basketball team during the 1971-72 season, serving as the sixth man for the 16-8 club under Coach Larry Schiner. He played two seasons at then-Jersey City State College (1970-72), and one year of baseball (1972), before leaving school to enter the New Jersey State Police.
 
Delaney became a state trooper in 1973 and in 1975 went deep undercover, dropping out of sight as part of an operation known as "Project Alpha," a three-year investigation designed to fight the influence of a thriving organized crime culture in New Jersey. His essential and courageous covert role ultimately led to the dismantling of organized crime organizations. Delaney testified before the United States Senate hearings on organized crime in 1981.
 
After living deep undercover, he faced the tremendous challenge of post-traumatic stress. With counseling and determination, Delaney pushed forward, later returning to NJCU to complete his bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1985.
 
Included among the many other honors he has received in his law enforcement career are the New Jersey State Police Meritorious Service Award for service above and beyond the call of duty, and the Dick Tracy Hall of Fame, an honor for those

who enjoyed a distinguished career in law enforcement and then went on to pen notable police-related stories.
 
Delaney returned to the sport of basketball in the early 1980s as an official and quickly rose through the ranks. He officiated in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for three years (1983-86) before being elevated to the NBA in 1987, when he officially retired as a state trooper.  
 
Delaney is the founder of two schools that trained officials for high-integrity roles within the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA college basketball. He earned a Master of Arts in Leadership from St. Mary's College of California in 2010 and is currently studying at The Harvard University Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program.
 
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