John Elway will put the power of his name to the test again, this time with a Cherry Creek restaurant that could evolve into a chain of eateries.

The former Broncos quarterback and his investment team are negotiating a lease with the owners of the Cherry Creek mall for a site, and they still have to pick a name for the steak and seafood restaurant.

When the restaurant opens this fall, the Hall of Famer will be looking to break the losing streak of other sports celebrities who struck out in the food business.

"These places have a high failure rate," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a Chicago restaurant consulting firm. "For every one that works, it seems like there are 10 that haven't." Elway is betting good food and service, combined with an experienced team of operators, will make him the exception.

He will team with Tim Schmidt and Tom Moxcey.

Schmidt owns 15 Black-eyed Pea Restaurants and two Hacienda Colorado restaurants. Moxcey was chief executive officer of Louisville-based Rock Bottom Restaurants when it ran restaurants under the Rock Bottom Brewery, ChopHouse and Old Chicago nameplates; was an executive at Denver-based Vicorp Restaurants, which runs Village Inns; and ran the old Cork and Cleaver in Boulder. He also ran Diane's Good 2 Go, a small chain of gourmet take-out restaurants that closed three years ago.

"It's going to be a nice restaurant," Elway said last week, although he declined to discuss details of his plan beyond saying the place won't be sports-themed. "It's not a short-term investment."

Plenty of Denver sport stars had similar ambitions: joints started by former Broncos defensive lineman Lyle Alzado and quarterback Craig Morton came and went, as did Fat & Mike's, a venture between defensive back Mike Harden and Nugget Fat Lever. And Broncos wide receiver Mark Jackson and running back Kevin "K.C." Clark's Scribbles in Littleton has been replaced by a Melting Pot.

Larry Walker's Third Base Sports Grill in Union Station and former outfielder Dante Bichette's Roadhouse and Sports Grill on the edge of Uptown both are shuttered.

Even more dining spots launched by sports and entertainment stars bombed elsewhere, including Britney Spears' Nyla in New York, Cameron Diaz's Bambu, Ricky Martin's Casa Salsa and George Hamilton's Hamilton's, all in Miami; the Sylvester Stallone-Arnold Schwarzenegger-Bruce Willis co-production Planet Hollywood; and basketball icon Michael Jordan's Michael Jordan's Restaurant in Chicago.

"John Elway is magic in your town, but Michael Jordan is John Elway times 10, and his restaurant closed," Goldin said. "And he had pretty good food."

But Broncos All-Pro tackle Winston Hill made a long run with Ribs'N'Stuff, still open in Littleton. Santino's, backed by Bichette, Walker and Avalanche star Joe Sakic, still serves up pasta on South Downing Street.

Sports celebs typically team with friends to start a restaurant, said Todd Gunderson, managing partner at Ditka's, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka's Chicago eatery.

Gunderson said putting a star's name on the door won't make it an instant success.

"Usually (the stars) are not involved, and they don't know what happens," Gunderson said. "There are more ways to lose money in the restaurant business than to make money."

Some have managed to make it work. Ditka's has grown 27 percent over the past two years. Harry Caray's chain of Chicago restaurants outlived the famed sports commentator. One of its Chicago locations grosses an estimated $9 million a year.

Former Miami Dolphin coach Don Shula's chain of America's Steak Houses is still going strong, with 27 units across the country.

Gunderson said Ditka's continues to grow in part because the former coach spends five or six days a week there, signing autographs and taking pictures with visitors.

"He's still a huge icon in Chicago," Gunderson said. "I have people who plan their vacations around coming to our restaurant from downstate (Illinois)."

Despite his star power in Denver, Elway has seen mixed business success since hanging up his Broncos jersey in 1999. He put his name on Wayne Huizenga's AutoNation car dealerships with moderate success. But he also backed the now-defunct MVP.com, a failed chain of coin laundries and Quepasa.com, a bankrupt Latino Web portal. The football legend now runs the Colorado Crush, an arena football team.

Elway's partner Schmidt said the football great has a keen business acumen and will be closely involved in the new restaurant, although he won't be there every night like Ditka.

"John sat in on all potential design meetings, many discussions of operations and our mission, and he's going to be around the restaurant," Schmidt said.

"We're not going to throw the name on the door and say, 'Here,' " he said. "People are going to be pleasantly surprised at how good the food and service is."

(c) 2004, The Denver Post. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway to open seafood and steak restaurant