Eli Manning, Orleans Darkwa

Giants running back Orleans Darkwa and quarterback Eli Manning. (Amanda Marzullo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Like many Giants fans, Orleans Darkwa was shocked at Eli Manning's low rating when the newest edition of the popular Madden video game was released in August. Manning received an 81 overall rating, which tied the two-time Super Bowl MVP for 20th among quarterbacks.

Unlike fans, Darkwa has the power to influence change. The Giants running back interned last year at EA Sports, which produces the Madden game.

Darkwa struck up a relationship with the person in charge of player ratings during the week-long internship arranged by the NFL. So, Darkwa called up his friend to request a higher rating for Manning.

"I told him about Eli," Darkwa said. "He had him at 81. He bumped it up to 83. We had a good two, three-day conversation about that."

With his 83 overall rating, Manning is now tied with Oakland's Derek Carr and Washington's Kirk Cousins for 14th among quarterbacks. Darkwa doesn't think his lobbying will matter much to Manning.

"He doesn't care," Darkwa said. "I didn't even bring it up to him."

In addition to having some pull with the ratings, the internship was a dream opportunity for Darkwa.

"I've always been a big video game guy," the 24-year-old said. "I can't go anywhere without my Xbox. I've always been a fan of Madden since I was born, basically."

Darkwa said the Madden creators were interested in his input, while he gained an appreciation for the difficulty of making the game.

"It's crazy how much effort goes into that game that people don't take into account, including myself," Darkwa said. "Back then I was getting frustrated off of certain things, a ball going through somebody's hands or something like that. You've got to understand the mechanics. There's only so much they can do and they're still building off of that. It's pretty fun. It's something I kind of want to go back there and learn a lot about."

With Manning's rating improved, Darkwa is now focused on boosting his 73 rating.

"Hopefully I'm going to get it up this year," said Darkwa, who is fighting for a roster spot. "I told him, 'I'm going to send you every big play I have so make sure you put my rating up.' It'll be fun."

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Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.