It’s possible Tony Romo won’t be the only athlete with National Football League talent to step foot on Eastern’s campus.

Florida State University’s recruiting class isn’t coming to Eastern, but the Indianapolis Colts might.

The Colts are exploring the idea of moving their training camp site to Charleston. Currently, the Colts train at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute Ind., but Eastern’s director of athletics Rich McDuffie and assistant director of athletics John Smith gave the Colts’ director of player development, Steve Champlin, a tour of Eastern a few weeks ago.

“There have been issues with the Colts front office and the facilities of the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, and we hope these issues can be resolved,” a spokesman for the Colts front office said.

Nothing was finalized during the visit so students shouldn’t get their hopes up to see Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Edgerrin James take up residency in Charleston. There are other possible sites involved in trying to host the Colts’ training camp, and McDuffie doesn’t expect an answer from the Colts until next year.

“I don’t know when they are going to make a decision, but it probably won’t be until after the Super Bowl,” McDuffie said. “They want to finish off the year and concentrate on the Super Bowl because they have a chance to get there this season.”

Eastern has a strong sales pitch with new Pro-Grass installed on the football field. At Phil Brown Field, where the Colts trained last year, the surface was Bermuda Turf.

“I don’t know if Pro-Grass on the stadium is the main thing the Colts are looking at, but it does allow them to practice day or night,” McDuffie said. “If it rains during the day, the team could still practice at night because with Pro-Grass there is excellent drainage on the field. They’re only in camp for a short time and they need to get a lot of things done before the season starts; with Pro-Grass they could do that.”

Also a plus for Eastern is the residence quarters in which the Colts would stay. Many NFL teams live in buildings far from the stadium they train at, resulting in trips by car or bus. With residence halls close to O’Brien Stadium, this would not be the case.

“They would probably stay at Lincoln, Stevenson and or Douglas Hall, which are right next to Lantz Arena. Our facilities are very close to each other,” McDuffie said.

While O’Brien Stadium has a state-of-the-art playing surface, Eastern’s practice fields are less than stellar. McDuffie noted the fields would most likely need to be upgraded if the Colts came.

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“We would have 100 players at the camp and so we would need to feed about 180 players,” the spokesman said. “Other requirements would be meeting rooms, practice fields, a pretty good commitment from a university and good athletic facilities.”

The Colts may not relocate to Eastern, but it appears their five-year partnership with Rose-Hulman is all but over.

“We don’t have a contract with the Colts for next year,” assistant facility director Al Morrison said. “They’ve made it public that they are negotiating with other places. If training camp were to start today, I don’t think they would be here.”

This is not the first time the Colts have looked at Eastern for training camp. Many years ago Indianapolis visited Eastern but a deal was not made.

“It’s only in the beginning stage but it would increase school publicity, hotels, restaurants and other business,” McDuffie said.

“They’ve made it public that they are negotiating with other places. If training camp were to start today, I don’t think they would be here.”