There’s a comfort in returning to a place where you know you’re always accepted. These are places where love grows unconditionally and family protects one another from the perils of the outside world. That place is known as home.

For Michael Sam, Marvin Foster and L’Damian Washington — three former products of broken family dynamics — home is the University of Missouri.

The SEC Network rolled out its latest installment of its “SEC Storied” documentary series on Sept. 22 with “Tigers United,” a look at the travails of the 2013 Missouri football team. The film examines the brotherly bond between Foster, Sam and Washington, who leaned on one another to essentially change the program for decades to come.

The documentary traces the trio from their troubled youths growing up in Louisiana and Texas, to their rise to stardom at Mizzou, before concluding with the harsh aftermath of life after football. The story is held together by a unifying thread of the three players returning to the Columbia campus for a reunion.

After three mostly-mediocre seasons, Sam, Foster and Washington emerged as stars during their senior campaigns to lead the Tigers to their first trip to the SEC Championship Game in just their second year in the conference.

The nation watched the 2013 Missouri Tigers steamroll opponents to a 12-2 record and their first SEC East title. What they didn’t see was a unified team that was quietly rallying behind one of their own and bonding as a family in the process.

Sam made history in 2014 becoming the first openly-gay athlete in pro sports. And while his outing might have been the No. 1 topic trending throughout the sports world, it was old news for Missouri, who had fiercely protected the privacy of one of their own.

The documentary narrated by Hassan Johnson (Wee-Bey from HBO’s “The Wire”) takes us behind the scenes to the Tigers’ “cross-over” dinners. The weekly meals between small groups of players and assistant coaches allowed the athletes to share their backgrounds and bond in a familial setting. It was during one of these meetings where Sam opened up to his teammates for the first time.

“I just got up there and told my team, you know, ‘My name is Michael Sam. I’m from Galveston, Texas, my major is sport management, I’m a defensive end and I’m gay,’” Sams says during the documentary.

In an age of ad nauseam social medium, not one member of the Tigers roster or staff spilled Sam’s secret. Instead, they rallied around their teammate.

While Sam’s journey is a big part of the story, the strength of the documentary is that it doesn’t focus squarely on Sam’s sexuality. Rather, “Tiger Unity” is the tale of all three players and the obstacles they all faced and how they faced them together.

Foster, a leader on the defensive line, tore his biceps during his senior year, dashing any professional hopes. Washington, who posted nearly 900 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2013, bounced around NFL camps after going undrafted, including with the Cowboys, 49ers, Giants, Browns, Dolphins, Steelers and Chiefs. The Rams drafted Sam, but the defensive lineman was cut during training camp. He failed to catch on with the Cowboys and eventually walked away from the game after a brief stint with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

The documentary does an excellent job of highlighting the fact that these players are just kids struggling, and sometimes failing, to find their own path to adulthood. Its raw emotion makes for a powerful, yet inspiring, hour of TV — especially when Sam addresses the abandonment felt from his own father.

Adding tremendous depth to the film are in-depth interviews from Mizzou coaches ranging from Gary Pinkel to strength and conditioning coach Pat Ivey and defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, who share personal stories of life with Sam and the 2013 Tigers. The documentary also does a great job of interviewing family and friends to depict the lives of all three players who you find yourself rooting for early in the film.

There’s a satisfying end as the three seemingly make peace during their reunion on the Columbia campus … aka home.