That thing is huge, wether he held it out front or whatever. I live in south Mississippi, and every year one or more of my hunting buds kill a rattler at least 6' long.
I have actually seen a picture of one that was just a little bigger believe it or not. It was from a newspaper clipping and it was thumbtacked to the wall of a little gas station on hwy 70 in Marion NC about 15 years ago.
The picture was of a man holding his arm out to the side, his hand holding the snake in the middle of the snake at about shoulder level. Both ends of the snake were touching the ground!!! This would make the snake probably around 9' or better. It was an eastern diamondback as well.
It makes me want to ride up to Marion and see if the picture is still hanging.
A point to make about this is , why not have the news people print the story, and picture. It could be a world record. Why not photo it instead of killing it.
Biggest I've seen in person was 50" measured by tape. It sure looked longer than that. It was a victim of vehicular homicide. It seems small compared to the initial picture.