Don't ask Erik Ainge about the pressures of a quarterback competition or winning a football game. He has both well in perspective.

"Someone after the game said something to me about pressure," Ainge said, referring to the Alabama-Birmingham game in which he threw two interceptions and was replaced for the majority of the second half by Rick Clausen. "I find it kind of hard to think about pressure and being a hero for a football game when people in Louisiana don't have a bottle of water or a peanut butter sandwich."

"A hero is someone saving somebody's life. Pressure is not knowing where your family is or that your house is underwater."

Ainge and more than 30 other UT athletes and coaches donated their time Monday afternoon for the second annual "OrangeAid". All proceeds from the donation-based autograph session will go to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the gulf coast last week.

"The guys (athletes) sitting around this table don't have money to give so this is what we can do to give back," Ainge said. "If that gives them (victims) money, I'll do this every day."

UT was represented by 25 football players, five basketball players and several coaches including head football coach Phillip Fulmer and head basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

Hurricane Katrina hit some members of UT's football team directly. Running backs coach Trooper Taylor lost a family friend during the aftermath of the storm.

Sophomore tight end Chris Brown's house was damaged. Freshman tailback Ja'Kouri Williams went days without knowing the whereabouts of his cousin and her young daughter.

Williams was happy to report that the two had finally evacuated from a shelter in New Orleans and are staying with his mother in nearby Plaquemine, La.

"They're showing their support," Williams said as he glanced toward the long line of Vol fans waiting to meet the contingent of UT players. "It's the same kind of support we get Saturday for the game. They're coming out and showing their support for the victims of the hurricane. It shows how great of a community that Knoxville is."

The event appears to be picking up steam. Well over 150 people were waiting in line before players began showing up at 6 p.m., when the event was scheduled to begin.

Last year, the fan turnout was limited because of the quick turnaround. Event organizers quickly scheduled the event in response to the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

UT's athletic department was also selling T-shirts with the inscription "One Heartbeat" for $15. The term is being used as a slogan for UT's 2005 football team after senior defensive lineman Jesse Mahelona suggested using it to describe team unity.

Mahelona's high school in Hawaii used the slogan. The proceeds from the T-shirt sales also go to the Red Cross.

UT's athletic department also donated $50,000 from concession sales at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 3 to relief efforts in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina last week.

Senior captain Parys Haralson said donating his time helps remedy the helplessness that often accompanies watching the tragedy unfold on television.

"It makes me feel good that people do care about people," the defensive end from Flora, Miss., said. "It's a terrible situation that's going on the Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama area. It's things like this that we're supposed to do to help each other. I'm just happy to be out here."