Bob Delaney
EXPERT ON:
◉ Inspirational Life Story
◉ Leadership Development
◉ Motivation & Mindset
◉ Overcoming Adversity
◉ Goal Setting & Achievement
EXPERIENCE:
◉ Decorated Law Enforcement Leader & Undercover Operative – Served as a New Jersey State Trooper and completed a three-year undercover assignment infiltrating organized crime families, later becoming a national advocate for Post-Traumatic Stress awareness recognized by President Barack Obama and U.S. military leaders.
◉ Distinguished NBA Executive & Referee – Officiated over 1,700 NBA games, including nine NBA Finals and multiple All-Star Games, and served as NBA Vice President and Director of Officials, earning the prestigious Gold Whistle Award.
◉ Award-Winning Author & Nationally Recognized Humanitarian – Author of multiple books, including Covertand Heroes are Human, featured on major national media outlets, and recipient of honors such as the Theodore Roosevelt Award and the Naismith Hall of Fame Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award.
About Bob Delaney
Bob’s life story has been told in his two books – Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob and Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress – as well as on HBO Real Sports, ESPN, ABC Sports, CNN and numerous other TV, radio and press media outlets. His most recent book is, Heroes are Human – Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines (stories of being at war with an invisible enemy).
Delaney has achieved distinction as a decorated Trooper with the New Jersey State Police and a respected NBA referee and Vice President and Director of Officials. Delaney has officiated over 1,700 NBA games, including nine Finals, and has worked two All-Star Games and international events. He was honored with the National Association of Sports Officials Gold Whistle Award in 2003.
Delaney’s nearly three-year undercover assignment infiltrating the Genovese and Bruno Crime Families – resulting in a personal toll of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – was highlighted in his 1981 Senate testimony and in Covert.
Bob’s contributions to PTS awareness and support to military service members and their families have been recognized with many honors and proclamations, notably, in 2010, President Obama conferred upon Delaney the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his ongoing PTS education and awareness work with the military.
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. He has twice received the United States Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal and was awarded the U.S. Special Operations Command Medal. Delaney recently became an Irish-American Hall of Fame inductee.
Delaney was the 2020 recipient of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s highest honor—The Theodore Roosevelt Award, bestowed on four U.S. Presidents (Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Fold, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan) and other distinguished citizens. Delaney attended New Jersey City University, B.S. Criminal Justice and St. Mary’s College of California, M.A. Leadership. He is also a Harvard Global Mental Health Trauma Recovery alumnus and presents globally on leadership, resilience, trauma awareness, selfcare.
