Northwestern State's football permanent team captains award, the Joe Delaney Memorial Leadership award, is named in his honor, as is the annual spring football game ("Delaney Bowl") and a golf tournament that generates support for the athletic program. A permanent shrine honoring him sits under the home stands at Northwestern State's Turpin Stadium and his number 44 jersey hangs in the football offices. In Virginia, the Delaney Athletic Conference took its name to honor his memory in the fall of 1983, and today 13 Virginia private high schools comprise the DAC.