ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Lance Moore might have found a future following football.

The Detroit Lions receiver is still focused on playing football, but a small speaking role in a 2014 “Key & Peele” episode has given him more thought about possibly transitioning from athlete to actor after his career is over.

Moore played a Democratic voter being driven in a van to a polling place by Republican operatives in the opening sketch of Season 4, Episode 7, “Sex Detective.”

Moore had three lines in the sketch -- his first acting foray -- including “whatever, all I know is my polling place closes in 15 minutes” and shaking his head and saying, somewhat disgustedly, “Republicans,” while shaking his head.

Lance Moore is used to performing on the gridiron but showed some acting chops in a recent "Key & Peele" episode. AP Photo/Mike Roemer

“We had a blast, man,” Moore said. “Most nerve-racking thing I think I’ve ever done. We can play football in front of millions of people every weekend, but something, it’s not like it was live, but being around those guys and being out of my comfort zone, I was pretty nervous.”

The nerves didn’t show, even if Keegan-Michael Key -- one of the creators of the show – said he wasn’t totally sure how it would work out when the idea initially came up. Key said he and his comedic partner, Jordan Peele, had a bigger idea for Moore at first, making him a henchman during a karate sketch because of Moore's karate background before a scheduling conflict forced a change.

Once Moore got on set -- it was a one-day shoot on location in California -- Key said he felt Moore slid into the role of "Democratic Voter No. 2" -- at least that's what IMDB calls it -- perfectly.

“He fit in quite well,” Key said. “If he was nervous, I’ll tell you what, I didn’t know it. With athletes, you expect something of them, you ask them to do it and they execute it. That’s what they do. So he was like, ‘OK, so I turn this way and say it like that?’ Yep, Lance, that’s how you do it.

“He was really laid back about the whole thing, but I had a sense he was enjoying it, definitely enjoying himself. And I felt like his acting, he was really acting in earnest. He was trying to get into the character.”

This came about because Key & Peele saw Moore do the Hingle McCringleberry touchdown celebration after scoring during a game in 2013. Peele tweeted about it and one of Moore’s close childhood friends, Eric Romer, knew people connected with the show because of his job in California.

Romer already had told Moore that he could have a future in acting, so when everything came together it seemed like an obvious thing to do. And now, acting regularly in the future has become more of a possibility.

“I think it is becoming realer and realer,” Romer said. “Four or five years ago, [I said to him] you gotta be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ because he was kind of getting known for dancing in the end zone. He was like, ‘No, that’s something you do after your career. I’m not interested in that.’

“I think more and more, he’s kind of been open to it, and I think this experience helped. He was on-set from a confidence standpoint and also, Keegan, afterwards, was like, ‘Hey man, you’ve got some chops.’ I pointed to that and said, 'Hey man, there are other people that think you can do this, so start considering it.'"

Moore has nothing planned for this offseason yet, but said he wouldn’t turn down potential acting opportunities as long as they didn’t conflict with football. He said he would be open to anything from comedy to drama to action -- where his football and karate background could be beneficial.

“I would do that, be an extra in a couple movies or something to evaluate whether I want to be more serious about it,” Moore said. “But obviously football has afforded me opportunities that otherwise I would have never gotten being in the NFL. So that’s a pretty cool thing.

“I’m not going to shy away from those opportunities if I get them. So we’ll just wait and see.”

At least one person in Hollywood believes Moore could have an acting future: Key. The MADtv alum who also has had roles in the TV series "Fargo" and "Parks and Recreation" could definitely see it -- especially if he went the route of future action star.

“I think he could do it. Absolutely,” Key said. “I think Lance could be in action movies. He’s very handsome, or if he wanted, he could be my stunt double. We’d have to take me down or put him on platforms or something like that, I don’t know, I think we look a little bit alike.

“But he has a nice, easy quality about him. He didn’t feel stilted. He felt good. I think he could very well have a future in this business.”