NFL notes: Frank Serpico joins New York police group supporting Colin Kaepernick

A former New York City police officer, whose claims of police corruption in the 1970s were chronicled in an Al Pacino movie, joined dozens of current and former officers Saturday at a rally in support of getting quarterback Colin Kaepernick a job in the National Football League.

The former San Francisco 49ers player became a controversial figure last year after he refused to stand for the national anthem in what he called a protest against oppression of people of color.

He opted out of his contract in March and became a free agent, but so far, no NFL teams have signed him for the upcoming season.

The gathering in Brooklyn featured about 75 mostly minority officers wearing black T-shirts reading “(hash)imwithkap.”

One exception was retired officer Frank Serpico, whose exploits were featured in the 1973 film, “Serpico.”

He admitted not being a football fan, but said he felt it was important to support Kaepernick for his stance.

“He’s trying to hold up this government up to our founding fathers,” said the now 81-year-old Serpico.

Sgt. Edwin Raymond, who said he was heading to work after the rally, spoke of the need for racial healing in the country. “Until racism in America is no longer taboo, we own up to it, we admit it, we understand it and then we do what we have to do to solve it, unfortunately we’re going to have these issues,” he said.

In other training camp and NFL news:

-- Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone isn’t quite ready to name Chad Henne his starting quarterback. Or Blake Bortles, for that matter. Marrone says Saturday he wants to “see how this thing goes” over the next few days before deciding who will start against the Carolina Panthers in a preseason game Thursday night. Marrone opened up the team’s quarterback competition after another inconsistent performance from Bortles, the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

-- Linebacker Rey Maualuga has signed with the Miami Dolphins, who put wide receiver Isaiah Ford on injured reserve. Maualuga played his first eight NFL seasons in Cincinnati, which cut him back in March. He was a full-time starter for the Bengals in his first seven seasons, then started only six games last season. Ford was Miami’s seventh-round pick in this year’s draft out of Virginia Tech.

UPDATES:

3 p.m.: This article has been updated with news from around NFL training camps.

This article was originally published at 11:50 a.m.