Charleston residents and Eastern summer school students shouldn’t run out and buy their Peyton Manning jersey just yet.

According to the March 20th edition of the Indianapolis Star, it appears the Indianapolis Colts will return to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for their sixth straight summer.

In the article, Sam Hulbert, president of Rose-Hulman, stated “the details are worked out from Rose-Hulman’s point of view…the legal counsel of the Colts and Rose-Hulman’s legal are hammering out the lawyers’ language.”

Pete Gustafson, vice president for student affairs at Rose-Hulman, seemed slightly less optimistic than Hulbert in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t know if they will come or not,” Gustafson said. “I know we’ve been in negotiations with the Colts for some time, but nothing is final.”

Rose-Hulman has made a dramatic comeback in the bid for hosting the NFL team’s training camp. In November 2003, Al Morrison, assistant facility director of Rose-Hulman, believed “if training camp were to start today, I don’t think they would be here.”

Gustafson doesn’t know what has made Rose-Hulman the front-runner once again, but he believes if there was a change of opinion it came from the Colts.

“I know we haven’t changed our concept on hosting the Colts,” Gustafson said. “We’ve enjoyed having the Colts here but we haven’t changed our stance.”

If the Colts do return to Rose-Hulman, the contract would only be for one year. The Indianapolis Star reported there is a strong possibility the Colts would move to Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., for the summer of 2005.

“They can’t take us this year, but Saint Joseph’s has a real good shot at 2005,” Colts owner Jim Irsay was quoted in the Indianapolis Star.

However, even if Rose-Hulman wanted to lock the Colts up long into the future, the institution would be unable. At the present time, Rose-Hulman is undergoing a change in presidency and Gustafson said the institution will not be signing any long-term contracts.

“Right now we’re in the process of naming a new president so any deal we sign would be for one year,” Gustafson said.

What does appear to hamper Eastern’s chances of snagging the Colts is the team’s desire to stay in Indiana. This was a hot topic of debate when the Colts visited Eastern at the start of the month.

“I know (Colts owner) Jim Irsay says it’s very important,” Gustafson said. “I’m not sure how important it is, I just know what I read in the papers.”